Blade
by Neo Rabbit Keeper Of NeoVerse
Summary: Thirteen years has come to pass and a new savior was born. But can this new savior protect the realms of the future from the savage beings of the recent past? No flames. R&R.
1. Birth Of A New Legend

Blade

**Blade  
A Spyro The Dragon Fanfiction  
By Neo Rabbit**

**Disclaimer:** Spyro and other characters belong to Krome and Universal. Dawn the Dragoness is property to the guard of the twilight. Fan characters, such as Blade and Glacia, belong to me.

A/N: **My original title was '_Blaze._' However, the character title was taken by a few authors, which got me to this alternate title. Anyway, if anyone has read '_Together_,' feel free to read this story. Anyone who hasn't read the story otherwise should read it before reading this story in order to comprehend it. Oh, and by the way, aside from the title, this has absolutely nothing to do with vampires unless horror is included in the genre. Now, without further ado, enjoy!**

**WARNING**: Due to the graphic nature of this story, reader's discretion is strongly advised. Anyone who finds discomfort in this story, then, as an advisor, please turn back now. Otherwise, enjoy the story.

Rating: **R for Sequences of Strong Bloody/Graphic Violence and Intense Action Throughout, Some Disturbing Images Involving Torture, and Language.**

Genre: **Action/Adventure, Drama, and Sci-Fi

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**Prologue: **Birth Of A New Legend  
**

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_Six months…_

Six months has passed and that was how long Glacia, age eighteen, has waited until she laid her dragon egg. While doing so, she kept thinking about the father and the rightful mother of her child known as Spyro the Dragon and Cynder the Dragon, the two befallen lovers brought together by a horrific tragedy.

All the while, her expression grew of worry. _If her newborn grows of age, what was she to tell him/her of his/her father or the black dragon who could've been his/her mother? _No. She shouldn't. She dared not to tell her newborn of the tragedy that occurred nearly a year and six months ago. She didn't know what would happen if her newborn knew the full truth behind his/her parents.

Right now, she kept the thoughts from her mind and kept her emotions in check because, upon Ignitus' words, if she gets into emotional wreckage during her pregnancy, it will result in a miscarriage. She couldn't have that. She couldn't lose her first child at this moment. Spyro has given her this child for a reason and this child is her main reason to live, which was why she kept her emotions in check while she constantly waited to lay her egg.

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Several hours later, Glacia, who was laid on a large, soft cushion, was easing her panting while issuing a joyful laughter upon the success of laying her first egg, which, to the guardians' shock, took the coloration of purple.

Mentally, Ignitus thought that it would normally take yet another generation for the coming of a purple dragon egg since, as long as he could remember, purple dragons were a rare breed with the ability to master the many elements of their breath attacks thus deeming these types of dragons to be legends amongst the realms. But given the fact that it was only six months, it grew strongly shocking to him to say the least.

Regardless, the guardians and many others bared witness to this scenery with the same joyful expressions on their faces as well while murmuring amongst themselves upon the coloration.

Ember, who was among the group, grew joyful upon the sight of the new egg, but not to Glacia. Regardless of what Ignitus has revealed to her and the others six months ago in regards to the tragedy, she couldn't help but feel an amount of sheer distaste for the ice dragon. Spyro was her best friend and she took kind consideration to the fact that the black dragoness was whom he chose as his mate.

Then, she grew devastated by the death of her best friend, Cynder. Her emotional devastation increased when her purple friend has left them for nearly a year upon that tragedy.

The simple fact that Glacia approached the temple with the bloody corpse of her best friend in her arms and his blood smeared on her body was reason enough for her to be angry. But she managed to keep her emotions in check for the sake of the newly laid egg as Ignitus gingerly held the egg in both his claws and raised it high over his head while the moonlight brightly shone over it from the overhead ceiling.

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**One Month Later…**

That late night, a single crack issued from the egg, yet the sleeping ice dragon paid it no heed as she kept her soft, strong grasp to her egg.

Then, a second crack issued followed by a third before the cracks multiplied. Then, a small piece broke from the exterior of the egg, which was enough to slowly stir Glacia from her slumber.

She thought she heard a noise, but as she surveyed her surroundings, she saw that, other than herself and her egg, nothing was in the room with her.

She was about to head back to sleep when she heard another noise. It sounded close. So close that it sounded, to her shock, like it was coming directly from her.

Slowly, with her expression intact, she looked down towards the egg in her arms and, with a gasp escaping her breath, took in to a shocking sight.

The purple egg was hatching.

* * *

Ignitus quickly awoke from his slumber upon the echoes of his name issuing from the corridors of the temple.

Fleetingly, the elder got up on all four and made haste towards the room that the ice dragon resides in. But not before awaking the other guardians to the development.

Nearly a minute later, the guardians arrived to Glacia's quarters and halted their advances upon baring witness to an awe-strucking sight.

The hatchling was born.

In the room, shards of the egg were seen around the pillow cushion as Glacia, who had a loving smile on her face and tears in her eyes, was seated on the cushion looking towards and cradling her new hatchling.

It took a while before she noticed the guardians in front of her with awestruck expressions on their face.

But regardless of their expressions, Glacia kept her smile while numerous tears relinquished from her eyes.

"It's a boy." She softly revealed before looking back down to her sleeping infant.

The small purple infant had a coloration of purple on its body where tiny, yet silver spikes protruded from the back of its head and trails down to its tail while the tip of its tail had a small sharp silver blade at the end.

Two small curved, golden horns, which Glacia took recognition to as a resemblance to Spyro, has protruded from the head while two purple wings with a tiny silver spike on the top of each wing, which was identical to Cynder's, were seen at the back.

But one description that caught Glacia's interest was the single spike on both its forearms. She was curious as to why there were so many silver spikes to her infant's body, but left that issue alone. Her infant was born and she was happy. So happy that she came up with the perfect name for her new baby dragon.

"Welcome to the new world…Blade."

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Ignitus gathered everyone to the front of the temple that morning and related the news to them.

Afterwards, each of the dragons and town folks were given a glimpse of the new infant and were awestruck by the looks and similarities of this new dragon.

After that was done, Hunter, Bianca, Flame, and Ember each issued a glimpse of the new infant known as Blade and, like the other dragons and town folks, were awestruck by the looks and similarities.

Ember took in the sight of this before her awestruck expression slowly switched to one of sadness. The infant reminded her of the two friends that she had lost. It was so much of a reminder that it reduced her to tears.

Flame took note of this and instantly comforted her in an embrace.

The embrace was enough to calm the pink dragon, but Flame kept his hold on her due to the fact that if she were to look in the infant's direction, she would get back into that emotional state again. He wouldn't allow it.

Throughout the pass seven months now, he has witnessed her emotional wreck at first hand. One of which where she has tried to take her own life and another of which where she tried to take the life of Glacia before the news of her pregnancy came out. And upon that news, Ember managed to control herself while Flame provided comfort for the pink dragoness. But even the comfort of the orange dragon doesn't diminish the sheer hatred that she had for the ice dragon.

Regardless, she regained control of herself and throughout the months has kept her emotions in check and her distance from the ice dragon.

As soon as Ember was at ease with herself, Flame relinquished his embrace from her before both dragons looked towards Ignitus and the other's position.

It wasn't long before the other guardians joined into the crowd as Ignitus, with both hands, slowly raised the squealing infant in the air while the sunlight bathed over him from the heavens.

"May the light of our ancestors shine upon you, young one." Ignitus spoke.

A new legend is born, and in years to come, his destiny awaits.

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A/N: _**My original rating was slated for a PG-13, or T for alternate purposes. But due to the graphic content, and the fact that a fan character from my other story will make its return, I'm pushing the envelope with the story. Anyway, hope you've enjoyed this chap. Truth be told, this story was slated to be posted in May just a few days from my 26th birthday, but I couldn't wait. The more I worked on these types of stories, the more excited I became. The next chapter will shift to thirteen years into the future. It might be distant; it might be not so distant. Either way, Sci-Fi will be recommendable in later chaps. Until next time, ciao!**_


	2. Thirteen Years Later

Chapter One: Thirteen Years Later

Chapter One: **Thirteen Years Later  


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**

**Thirteen Years Later…  
**  
_  
"Oh, God, no. Spyro, don't go. Please wake up!"_

A pleading voice echoed in the void of darkness.

"_Goddamn it, Spyro, don't you leave me!! Wake up!! WAKE UP!!_"

With a sudden frightful gasp, Glacia, age thirty-one, awoke from her slumber with a start while panting heavily.

Momentarily, she closed her eyes and eased her breathing in a measure of calm. At the recommended age, she grew to adult size nearly taking the similarity to the adult form of the black dragon known as Cynder.

_Cynder._ She couldn't help but constantly think about her counterpart at the moment. The black dragoness could've been the rightful mother of her thirteen-year-old son known as Blade. But that was no longer possible due to a recent tragedy that happened thirteen years ago.

Then, she thought about Spyro, the secondary purple dragon of destiny who fell victim to the same tragedy that claimed the life of Cynder.

Then, the dreams started. She lost count of how long that she had them, but every time that she did, she was reduced to sobbing tears. In fact, the tears relinquished itself from her eyes at the moment while she sniffed them up.

"Mom?" A voice spoke which threw her attention to the left side.

There, lying beside her was her son, Blade. He took an exact resemblance to his father, which she took recognition of by the time he hatched from his egg.

Two medium-sized Mohawk-looking scales protruded from the top of his head. Also, the silver spikes behind his head and down his back was a bit longer and a little sharper than normal while his tail was the same size as his father's young form. He also had a golden underbelly while the curve blade on the tip of his tail was of medium size and even his claws, which passed off as finger and toenails, were issued the same silver style. A three-spot birthmark, identical to that of his father, was also present on his forehead. The only difference being is that those multiple marks weren't on his body.

The single spike on the top tip of each wing was of medium size as well while the spike on each of his forearms grew slightly to curves and was pointed downward. And despite his recent movements, Blade didn't feel any pain from the protruding spikes. In fact, the purple dragon could move quite well without much worry of cuts and scars.

Then, Glacia saw his eyes as a perfect mix shade of icy blue and purple. She couldn't remember the last time that she saw his eyes, but each time she did, it reminded her so much of his late father.

_His father._ Once again, Glacia neglected the issue of telling her son about her father in hopes to not relive those memories. Nor does she want her son in that kind of emotional state of mind upon the tragic news.

But, to her amazement, Blade hasn't, throughout his years of growing up, once mentioned his father and that was more than enough to relieve the ice dragon at that point.

Still, she wished that she could tell him, but he wasn't ready for the truth. Not yet. So she left the issue alone and they never spoke of it. Right now, she looked to her son, who's expression grew of concern upon his mother's state.

"Yes, son?" She spoke after a while of thoughtful silence.

"Are you okay?" He asked

Glacia nodded.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just had a bad dream, that's all."

"Bad dream. Like a nightmare?"

Glacia nodded.

"Yes, among other things."

With a curious expression on the young dragon's face, he spoke.

"What was it about?"

Glacia issued a slight smile in recognition to his curious state of mind before shaking her head.

"Something you really don't want to hear."

"Oh, come on, mom, please?" He pleaded, with a pouting expression on his face.

Glacia shook her head.

"No, not until you're older."

Blade grimaced.

"Oh, man." He muttered.

Glacia issued a soft chuckle from her breath before using her left hand to caress her son's body, regardless of the spikes. The touch was soothing to Blade and it was almost rendering him to sleep before his mother halted.

"Let's get some sleep. We got a big day ahead of us."

"Okay." Blade replied during his yawn before falling soundly asleep.

With Blade eventually laid to rest, Glacia struggled to get to sleep; yet she couldn't. And whenever she had that problem, she would get up and approach towards the balcony while looking up to the stars because, aside from her son, the stars gave her comfort and relief.

With a sigh, she got up from her sleeping bed without waking her son, and approached towards the balcony.

As she did, she overlooked the entire land of Avalar, which took a brief futuristic look to it. Although it looked old fashioned from the outside, the inside was embedded with advanced technology. Even the dragon temple itself was issued a couple of technological tweaks.

But Glacia paid it no heed. Instead, she decided to stare up at the aligning stars of the heavens while she was momentarily in a measure of calm and relief. She liked the stars. Those stars, aside from Blade, reminded her of Spyro and Cynder, the two befallen lovers.

They gave her comfort and relief and they, along with Blade, were the only things keeping her in the world of the living.

Throughout the years, she has prayed to the stars and issued her sincere gratitude to not only Spyro, who has given her this child, but to Cynder as well. But each year, she has always issued her gratitude to the befallen lovers and this year was no different than any other year.

"Thank you." She spoke softly to the stars of the heavens.

Afterwards, she went back to the bed where her son was resting peacefully before immediately drifted off to sleep.

Little did she know, her son's journey for adventure and the truth would soon begin, which begs the question: _How soon?

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_A/N: _**Sorry for the shortness of this chapter. I've been constantly dealing with other stories that I've recently neglected that are suffering from writer's block at the moment. So I'm pretty much trying to keep myself from speeding this story up in order to keep my storyline intact. Anyway, next chapter, a feminine figure in Avalar catches Blade's eyes. No promises on romance for this story due to the genre, although, like in my story 'Together,' it's slightly recommendable. **_


	3. Meeting Dawn

Chapter Two: Meeting Dawn

Chapter Two: **Meeting Dawn**

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That morning, the sun radiated the lands of Avalar while many of the town folks awoke for their daily activity.

Glacia and her son, Blade, who was waltzing out on all four, exited the temple while the sun bathed down to them from the heavens.

Afterwards, Glacia beckoned her son to play amongst the other young dragons in the grassy area while Blade happily obeyed.

As soon as Blade made his way there, the other young male dragons greeted him and invited him to play a game with them called '_Dragonfly Tag,' _a somewhat resemblance to football. The only difference to the game is that there was only one touchdown line and three rules to the game: _No breathing fire, no flying and no swallowing the dragonfly_. But the purple dragon wasn't going to have those kinds of problem since he doesn't know how to breath fire or fly at the moment and has no intention of gulping down a dragonfly. At the beginning of the game, it takes only one dragon to snag a single flying dragonfly into the grasp of its mouth to become the receiver. Once that happens, that single dragon becomes a fugitive and must charge to the single touchdown line, while others gave chase, in order to win.

However, if the receiver is tackled, the win goes in favor of the five parties and the receiving dragon will lose the game.

Right now, the dragonfly that volunteered for the game is none other than Sparx. Glacia couldn't remember the last time that she saw the dragonfly, but last she heard, he, several days ago after the tragic death of his brother, has resided back to his parents and hasn't been seen since until a day later after she gave birth to Blade.

Sparx.

The moment the dragonfly has laid eyes on the baby dragon, his emotions grew high with falling tears and attempted to hug the life out of her baby. But she held him back from that attempt, yet she understood his reason. It was the same as everyone else, including her, for that matter. This baby has reminded him of his late brother, the close relative of his family.

Glacia remembered Sparx telling her that it was his brother that eventually got him to see the goodness in the black dragoness known as Cynder. It was also his brother who encouraged him to start a date with a female fairy known as Zoe, and, despite his shyness, that date eventually lead to romance.

He had his brother to thank for all of that and now he was gone. And upon that devastating truth, an emotionally saddened dragonfly, despite the protest of Zoe, has made his leave and without return.

And then, Blade was born and a reluctant dragonfly, due to the plea of his parents, issued his return to an emotional sight.

Now, with a smile, she watched as her thirteen-year-old son eventually grasped the dragonfly in his mouth and raced on all four to the other side of the grassy playing field.

While Blade made his race to the touchdown line, a voice that was not his own issued from inside his closed mouth.

"_You know, Spiky, sticky saliva isn't my best suit. Hurry to the touchdown, pal._"

"I'm going, I'm going." Blade's muffled voice spoke, while getting used to the '_Spiky_' comment placed upon him by the dragonfly.

Suddenly, a young, male bluish dragon raced in his direction in an attempt to tackle him down.

But as soon as he made the lunge, the purple dragon took a daring leap over the blue dragon while time virtually slows upon their actions.

While the scenery issued a clockwise rotation, the air flowed around Blade as he passed up the charging blue dragon, but was unaware of the flow of time that surrounded him.

Eventually, the rotation seized to Blade's left side and time reverted to normal before the purple dragon, upon landing, grunted and did a rollup to the ground before quickly regaining himself and resuming his run.

During the run, he took a look back to find a party of five young male dragons chasing after him for the tackle and their win.

Blade issued a mocking expression in their direction.

"I'm gonna win." His muffled voice teased before issuing a chuckle.

Suddenly, Blade grunted and tripped over a small pebble in the ground, which caused him to arch forward, and, upon landing, roll onto the ground.

During his constant roll, he managed to sprint pass the touchdown line, which caused the party of young dragons to halt their advances upon that outcome.

Blade's rolling frenzy eventually ended as he grunted upon his chin harshly hitting the grassy landscape, which forced his mouth open and his tongue to roll out.

From out of the clutches of the purple dragon's tongue poured a saliva-filled Sparx, who gagged and coughed from the specks of saliva in his mouth. Eventually, he subdued himself before sticking his tongue out in a measure of disgust while the dizziness entered his senses.

"Bleech! God, that was plenty yucky. But that was a hell of a game." He started before the dizziness caused him to faint.

Blade groaned from his wake and attempted to stand, but before he could, a voice spoke.

"Need some help?"

Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked up to find, to his awe, the sight of a young female dragoness, at assumingly his age, in front of him. Positioned on all four, she had a coloration of light orange and yellow on her body. Two pinkish curved horns protruded on the side of her head while two slightly curved scales occupied the top. Small curve spikes protruded from the back of her head and down to her tail and the tip of her tail took the shape of the bright sun. Her webbed wings were an orange color folding at her back.

But what caught Blade's attention were her eyes, a perfect shade of sunlight yellow that was almost more than enough to put the purple dragon in a hypnotic trance.

"Huh?" He asked, his expression intact.

The female dragon giggled upon his reaction.

"Do you need any help?"

Blade grew hesitant for a moment.

"Uhh…Uhh…no, that's alright. I-I got it."

Blade strained himself to all four and grew successful while the female dragon took a good look at the new dragon's appearance. Then, she noticed the spikes protruding from his forearms and grew worried.

"Are you alright?" She asked as Blade shook his head from a recent dizziness before his attention was met with her.

"Yeah, no, I'm fine." He answered, yet the female dragon kept her worries intact.

"The reason for me asking was because of those spikes on your forearms."

Blade looked down to his forearms and took into anticipation of what she meant.

"Oh, what, these?" He said before returning his attention to her and shaking his head. "It's nothing to worry about. I was born this way and it hardly hurts."

Upon the comment, the female dragon creased an eyebrow with a hint of surprise.

"You mean y-you didn't feel any pain?"

Blade flexed his neck from side to side, which resulted in a few cracking sounds before speaking.

"Other than the pain in my chin, no."

Silence, she diverted her gaze downward with the expression intact and nodded softly.

"Huh."

"Hey, Spiky." A young dragon called from the field, which caught Blade's attention. "If you're done chatting with your girlfriend, we would like to finish up the game."

Blade issued a sigh of annoyance.

"Yeah, okay, I'll be there in a minute. And she's _not_ my girlfriend!" He replied aloud before turning his attention back to the female dragoness. "Sorry, I got a game to play."

The female dragon shook her head in comprehension to this.

"Hey, no prob."

With a smile, Blade nodded and started to leave, but turned back towards her while the five young dragons groaned in annoyance upon the display.

"Say, you wanna come and play '_Dragonfly Tag_' with us?"

The female dragon shook her head in rejection to the offer.

"No, I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"Well, because _Dragonfly Tag_ is a male thing and I'm kind of out of your league at the moment. Plus, I'm hardly the type to tackle anyone."

Blade chuckled inwardly.

"Well, you can always watch and see me mop the tile floor with these guys."

The female dragon nodded.

"Yeah, that'll work."

"Good."

Side by side, they started waltzing back towards the field.

"Say, I didn't catch your name." Blade spoke before looking to her.

The female dragon returned the look in kind and spoke.

"Dawn. You?"

"Blade." He replied before issuing a nod. "Nice to meet you, Dawn."

Dawn smiled.

"Likewise to you, Blade."

As they, along with Sparx, made their way back to the field, the five dragons took note of Dawn and started lecturing Blade on the issue of bringing a girl into the field. But the purple dragon extinguished that fire by informing them that she was only here to watch, which was good enough for them at this point.

And without further explanation, they resumed the game as Dawn kept watch, momentarily cheering onto the purple dragon.

Glacia, who was watching the entire scenery, smiled upon the fact that her son has found a feminine friend before making her way back inside the temple.

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A/N: _**Looks like Blade made a feminine friend. Hope you like the description, Guardian. Next chap, an unknown evil being makes its presence known in the realms. Keep on the lookout!**_


	4. The Revival

Chapter Three: **The Revival

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**In the dark of the non-windy night stood the lone metallic fortress in the middle of the peacekeeper's realm.

As of thirteen years ago, it was inhabited by a party of dragon hunters led by a sadistic, maniacal creature known as Dargaul. Now the place remains deserted, quiet and still without an ounce of disturbance.

* * *

The throne room was eerily quiet with the only thing occupying the room were the dry blood of the recent deceased corpses staining the floor.

Suddenly, a dark swirling portal issued inside the room before quickly disappearing.

Standing before the deceased body of the dragon hunter known as Dargaul was a dark figure cloaked in a garment robe. On the arm of the robe, an insignia was seen that took the shape of two dark dragon horns while its two hands were in black gloves embedded with the same insignia.

Slowly, the mysterious cloaked figure extended its right hand before a dark glow issued from it.

Suddenly, as if on command, the staining dry blood occupying the floor converted into a cloud of dark mist before rendering its way into the body of its rightful owner.

And as a result, the few deceased corpses on the ground, including the corpse of the dragon hunter, Dargaul, were instantly being revived upon being consumed by a shroud of dark energy.

As the cloaked figure watched throughout the revival, the dark mist reattached the loose limps of the corpses while half of the dragon hunter's head was being issued the same treatment.

After the treatment was done, the darkness faded around the bodies before each one of them rose to their feet.

The few of the large apes that were standing surveyed their surroundings in a bit of confusion while Dargaul slowly rose to his feet before the unknown cloaked figure.

The dragon hunter looked around in confusion upon the familiar scenery, yet he managed to piece together his memory. He was in his throne room, but he was suppose to be dead, yet he was alive upon inspecting himself as well as his few henchmen.

Then, he noticed the cloaked figure in front of him before narrowing his eyes to a glare. He barely could see the eyes throughout the hood, but regardless, he needed answers.

"Who are you?" He demanded before issuing his second question. "And what trickery is this?"

Silence issued from the hooded cloaked figure, which fueled Dargaul's rage.

"Answer me!!" He shouted.

'_Such rage._' The cloaked figure's thoughts replied. '_He's perfect._'

"Who I am you will find out in due time." His deep voice spoke. "And this trickery that you speak of is called a revival. In a simple sense, I have brought you back from the face of death."

Silence for a while upon the revelation, Dargaul kept his expression intact.

"Why?"

"I have a certain task that puts you and your minions into play."

Silence.

"What kind of _task_ do you have in mind?"

"Something that involves a few dragons."

Once again, Dargaul was in silence, but upon that news, a sadistic smirk was plastered on his face.

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A/N: _**Well, looks like my original fan character is revived back to life by this mysterious entity. Anyway, sorry for the shortness of this chap, but the next one is long. So keep on the lookout for more.**_

****

Next Chap: **_Glacia recalls a confrontation a decade ago._**

**_Rurikredwolf: Sorry to hear about Memories: Wrath of Chaos. I was anxiously looking forward to the battle between Orion and Draco. And if you're serious about having me use one of your characters for this story, then I would suggest Wind. He seems like the easiest character to use compared to Hunter. Don't get too anxious, though. He won't appear in the story until later. Anyway, thanks a lot._**


	5. Emotional Confrontation

Chapter Four: **Emotional Confrontation

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Bold Texts - Indicates Flashback Sequences

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**That night, at possibly the same hour, Glacia was standing at the window with her wings folded back and her folded arms on the sills overlooking the lands while her son, Blade, was at rest.

During her surveillance, she took notice of a small house in the distance in between the series of homes that occupied Ember and Flame, who were at the moment conversing amongst each other.

Glacia couldn't hear a word of what they were saying due to her distance, yet she grew careless of the issue as she kept her gaze to the two couple.

To Glacia's knowledge, these two has started to establish a relationship when young baby Blade was coming up. And looking back, the ice dragoness seemed to recall an incident between Ember and herself that took place about three years after her baby dragon was born. It was something that she had hoped to never do again, especially in front of her baby.

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(**Ten Years Ago**)

**It has been three years prior to Blade's birth as the night makes its near approach.**

**Ember, the pink dragoness, was, on her hind legs, waltzing the corridor of the temple alone with a stern, hard expression on her face to hide the hatred in her eyes. And her reasons were apparent. It was time that she had that talk with the ice dragon known as Glacia, the mother of the purple dragon known as Blade.**

**True, Ignitus has explained to everyone, including her, about three years and six months ago in regards to the tragedy. But that wasn't enough for her. She needed answers and she was going to get them from her whether she likes it or not. She just need to get her alone because the last thing that she wants to do is issue an emotional confrontation with her in front of Blade.**

**She made a right turn to find Glacia, age twenty-one, cooing and cradling her sleeping three-year-old son before the ice dragon took note of her presence.**

**Ember kept her expression intact while acknowledging the scenery in front of her.**

**"We need to talk…alone." She spoke, which was almost in a dark manner.**

**Glacia took note of this and almost grew hesitant, but provided no immediate expression to it as she gingerly placed her son down to the basket without waking him up.**

**Afterwards, she slowly stood up and followed Ember out of the room.  
**

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**Ember and Glacia entered an isolated area in the temple far away from the room that Blade resides in and possibly from earshot of everyone present inside the place. Neither dragoness has acknowledged their surroundings as the ice dragon's expression grew of wonder upon the pink dragon.**

**Ember, however, fought to keep the tears in her eyes from falling as she halted in the middle of the room while Glacia did the same.**

**The pink dragoness' expression appeared to be devoid of emotion at the moment, but she kept her back to the ice dragon before speaking the words that she has waited long to speak.**

"**You know, it has been three years since he died."**

**Instantly, Glacia, with her expression slowly switched to sorrow, shook her head while her eyes were on the verge of tears.**

**In the three years since Blade's birth, the dreams of that incident has constantly haunted her, which, as a result, reduced her to grieving tears has it not been for the comfort of Ignitus and her son.**

**The last thing that she needs at this point is a conversation in reference to that tragic event.**

**"Ember, please let's not bring this—"**

"**Shut up!" She whispered harshly before resuming in her normal tone. "You know, in our young years, I had the biggest crush on him. Of course, I grew envious towards the fact that Cynder came back into the picture. But as the months and years went by, I took consideration to the fact that she was the one for him. And we got to know each other more, so we became friends and she became his mate. In a way, they were happy together and I was happy for them."**

**She took a deep breath and her expression grew saddened before she diverted her gaze to the ground.**

"**Now my best friend is gone." She spoke, and then, unbeknownst to the ice dragon, her expression switched to that of emotional hatred before she resumed. "And now, my crush is gone, too."**

**Slowly, she turned halfway to the right and glared in the ice dragon's direction.**

**Glacia took note of this and almost grew shocked upon the upcoming implication.**

"**Which leads me to you."**

"**God, Ember, I didn't—"**

"**I know you didn't kill him. Ignitus pretty much cleared that fire." She spoke darkly, and then issued a venomous tone as she turned to fully face the ice dragon with the expression intact. "The question is: **_**Why didn't you save him?**_**"**

**Glacia grew in hurtful shock upon the question and grew unresponsive at the time as Ember noticed and slowly started advancing towards her.**

"**Huh? WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE HIM?!" She bellowed which caused Glacia to flinch in fright from the outburst.**

"**Please, stop." Glacia softly pleaded, but it fell on deaf ears from the pink dragoness.**

**Ember's expression didn't deter as she resumed while she was inches towards the ice dragon's position.**

"**Answer my fucking question."**

"**Please."**

"**That spear was embedded into his chest. Why didn't you save him?!"**

**"Stop."**

"**Tell me the goddamn truth!! Why didn't you--" She shouted as she inched closer.**

**Suddenly, Glacia grasped the pink dragoness by both shoulders and shoved her against the opposite wall while Ember issued a grunt of pain from the impact.**

**The action caught the pink dragoness by surprise but her previous expression didn't deter as her hateful glare met with the emotional grief-stricken glare of the ice dragon.**

"**I…said…STOP!!" She shouted her last comment in her face before lowering her tone while the pink dragoness kept her expression intact. "You want the fucking truth, huh? You want to know why I didn't save him? BECAUSE HE DOESN'T WANT ME TO!!"**

**Upon the outburst, the ice dragoness was reduced to tears while the pink dragoness' expression softened upon the ice dragon's grief-stricken state.**

**As Glacia softly sobbed, she relinquished her hold on the pink dragoness while retreating a few steps backwards before slowly shaking her head.**

**"How dare you." Her voice broke before resuming. "How fucking dare you. You weren't there when it happened--w-when they tortured him to death upon puncturing multiple wounds into his body. You weren't there when Dargaul—"**

**She halted herself from the mention of that name as her lips cringed and her eyes hardened with flowing tears while Ember's expression changed to one of horrified shock upon the truth.**

**Eventually, Glacia, who was slightly hesitant, resumed.**

**"That dragon hunter killed him. Impaled a spear through his heart and smeared his blood right before my eyes just like he said he would. I wanted to save him, but Spyro wouldn't let me. He wouldn't let me because the same fucking thing happened to Cynder. If I had withdrew the spear from his chest, he would die instantly."**

**She halted while her breathing shivered with soft sobs as Ember was driven to tears upon this revelation.**_**nothing**_** compared to the anguish that I went through."**

**"I loved him and I wanted nothing more than for him to live. But instead, I watched him fade slowly away from me. I WATCHED HIM DIE IN MY FUCKING ARMS!!" She bellowed, before easing herself a bit and resuming. "And there was nothing that I could do about it. There's your goddamn answer. So don't think for one second that I don't know what you're going through because that is _nothing_ compared to the anguish that I went through!"**

**Ember stood in stunned, saddened silence as Glacia noticed and resumed while the pink dragoness listened.**

"**Spyro was my reason to live just as Cynder was his. When we first met, he saved my life and throughout my time with him, I saw that he was hurt both mentally and emotionally. So much that he wanted to pursue his own death. But I saved him from that fate, which got him angry, but he finally told me why. He explained everything to me from beginning to end. And when he told me about Cynder, how she died, I felt sorrow for him. I felt it so much that I wanted to give back what was taken from him: **_**His reason to live.**_**"**

**Silence, Glacia needn't tell Ember about the passionate moment that she and Spyro shared since the pink dragoness has recently found that issue out upon Blade's birth. Nonetheless, she sniffed up the flowing tears before resuming ahead.**

**"Afterwards, he was happy. He was smiling. He was—He was renewed. But then, we were attacked and I was captured…taken to a place beyond my nightmares. And after seeing the inside of that place, I prayed for Spyro to be my savior, but then realized that by him coming to my rescue, it'll only lead to his death by that dragon hunter's hands and I was right!"**

**She sniffed up another amount of flowing tears before resumed.**

"**And now he's gone. But then, in my moment of grief, he and Cynder visited me in spirit and gave me my reason to live."**

**With her expression intact, Ember almost grew clueless to her comment, but then issued a frightful gasp while her eyes widened in horrific shock as the memory came to her.**

"**Blade." She spoke softly**

**Glacia nodded while the pink dragoness strongly felt an amount of guilt in her being. Three years and a few months ago, in her shroud of grief-stricken hatred, she nearly tried to take the ice dragon's life as well as her own hadn't it been for Flame and the news of her pregnancy. And ever since then, the ice dragon grew a great discomfort around the pink dragoness, which was more than enough for both dragoness' to keep distances from each other.**

**"Oh, God." Ember spoke softly**

"**Blade is my reason to live. To lose him is like losing a part of myself just like I almost did when Spyro died. And you almost accomplished that during my pregnancy."**

"**Glacia, I'm so—" Ember started, but Glacia, in her emotional grief, intervened.**

"**Ember, I want you to keep away from me and my son. Because if he dies, so does his killer, and so do I."**

**Ember, with her expression intact, grew stunned and before she could get a word of apology towards Glacia, the ice dragoness made her departure from the area, leaving the pink dragoness alone.

* * *

**Glacia issued a deep breath from her maw. She shamefully regretted that argument and deep down, Ember does too.

When Flame heard about it several hours later prior to the argument, he was displeased and verbally forced both Glacia and Ember to issue an apology towards each other.

And for the sake of Blade, Glacia issued her apology, which wasn't as sincere as Ember's was, while the pink dragoness took notice of, but didn't take immediate response to it. Instead, she accepted it.

It wasn't until moments later that Glacia realized her mistake and was reduced to tears before issuing her sincere apology to Ember.

Afterwards, Glacia and Ember issued comforting hugs to each other while in tears upon a dispute that could've made them bitter enemies.

Now their newfound friendship remains intact and the ice dragon was happy for that.

* * *

A/N: _**Very long and dramatic, wouldn't you say? I just thought I could get that little tension out of the loop for a while. Anyway, the next one will also be long, so keep on the lookout!**_

_Next Chap_: _**A spiritual entity provides young Blade his first training and a heed of warning of a possible upcoming threat.**_


	6. Test of Fire and Combat

Chapter Five: **Test of Fire and Combat  


* * *

****Bold Texts -Indicates Dream Sequence**

* * *

**Two Hours Later…**

As the nightlight shone itself inside the temple, Glacia and Blade were sleeping peacefully in their slumbers.

* * *

**_'Blade._' A soft whispering voice echoed in the room.**

**The young purple dragon stirred a bit before resuming his sleep.**

**_'Blade._' The echoing voice whispered loudly, which was enough to stir the young purple dragon from his slumber. **

**In his partial sleepily state, the young dragon's eyes were narrowed. Regardless, he looked around the room to find that no one, besides him and his mother were around.**

**Issuing a soft moan, Blade slightly shook his head.**

**'_Must be dreaming._' He thought.**

**Then, the mysterious whispers of his name echoed in the room again, which was enough to jolted his eyes wide open to an awaken state.**

**_'Who's there?_' His thought wondered before the voice returned as if, to Blade's shock, reading his mind.**

**_'Follow me._'**

The mysterious echoes of the voice were faint and, to Blade's knowledge, it was coming from outside their room.

**With a curious state of mind, the young purple dragon carefully and silently managed to crawl his way from his bed without the purpose of waking his mother. As soon as he accomplished that task, he slowly made his approach towards the door.

* * *

**

**As he got out the room towards the corridor, he heard the voice again issuing from across the right side area of the hall. Without hesitation, he followed until he made it to the huge blast door entrance that leads to the central room, which occupies the vision pool.**

**On the right lower corner of the door, he noticed a control panel. On it was a screen that says '_Enter Forepaw Here._'**

**Blade issued a slight nod in recognition to this.**

**"Seems easy enough." He spoke before approaching towards the control panel.**

**As he halted in front of the panel, he slowly placed his left forepaw on the pad before the panel activated.**

**"_Beginning Scan._" A computerized voice spoke**

**Instantly, to Blade's slight startle, a greenish light flickers around the purple dragon. The light almost seems to blind him at the moment, but he didn't deter.**

**Momentarily, the light dimmed while Blade blinked his eyes a bit.**

**"_Scan complete. Identity confirmed. Blade the Dragon, you are cleared for entrance._"**

**Blade took a step back before the blast door opened in a circular fashion. Afterwards, the purple dragon entered inside the vision pool area.  
****  
At the center of the room was the glimmering green vision pool, which issued young Blade's curiosity. But before he could approach towards the pool, the voice returned.**

**'_Follow me._' **

**Blade's attention was diverted to the right side about opposite to the room where the four sleeping elders reside.**

**As he made his approach, he noticed another control panel on the lower right side of the door with a monitor screen in the middle, which says, '_Training Area._'**

**Blade seemed to recall Ignitus showing him the inside of this place, yet he has no time to reminisce. He approached the panel and performed the same procedure as the first panel while the secondary panel issued the same treatment to the young dragon. **

**Afterwards, the blast door opened and Blade slowly made his way into the wide clearing of the training area.**

**The place didn't surprise the young dragon much since this wasn't his first time in the place.**

* * *

**As soon as he crossed the threshold of the area, the door suddenly closed behind him. And before Blade could react to that, a voice spoke. **

**"Nice of you to show."**

**Blade looked in front of him and almost flinches in startle before his expression grew of surprise.**

**In front of him was a purple dragon on all four and was his age. This dragon was the spitting image of him, except the spikes on his forearms and the curve blade at the tip of his tail. **

**In fact, this dragon has a cone-shaped tip at his tail while his two wings were an orange color. Then, Blade saw his eyes: A shade of purple. **

**The whole scenery to Blade was like looking into a mirror as the mysterious purple dragon issued a smile.**

**"Hello, Blade. Nice to meet you." He spoke with a measure of maturity in his tone.**

**Slightly swallowing saliva with a small hint of intimidation, Blade finally had the energy to speak. **

**"W-Was that you whispering across the hall?"**

**The mysterious dragon nodded.**

**"Yeah. Cool, isn't it?"**

**"Yeah. Uh, Who are you? And how do you know my name?"**

**With the smile intact, the mysterious purple dragon spoke. **

**"My name is Spyro, so there's no need to be afraid. And as for knowing your name, let's just say that we share a little connection."**

**With intimidation leaving him, Blade's expression grew of confusion upon the comment.**

**"Connection? What do you-What do you mean?"**

**"All will be explained in due time. Right now, you're here for a reason."**

**Silence, with his expression softened, Blade issued a soft nod.**

**"Uh, okay. And what reason is that?"**

**"To train you."**

**"Train me?"**

**"Yeah." He said before his expression switched to one of dread while his smile diverted to a frown. "You see... something's going to happen, Blade. It's something bad, something evil. And I want to prepare you for that, yet I can only be brief with these kinds of training."**

**Intimidation returning to his very being, Blade's expression grew of worry upon the dreadful comment.**

**"You mean the temple is going to be under attack?"**

**Spyro nodded.**

**"Not now, but soon."**

**"B-But what can I do? I mean, I could barely fight or even blow fire from my mouth like every other dragon in the village."**

**Spyro issued a curt nod in acknowledgement to that comment before issuing a smirk on his face.**

**"That may be true. But what if I told you that I can teach you how to fight and how to use and master fire?"**

**Blade's expression grew of shocking interest upon the comment.**

**"You can do that?"**

**"Hmm. With the right training and the right motives. The question is: _Are you ready for it?_" **

**Silence, Blade grew into his thoughts. Truth be told, he wasn't sure that he could trust this dragon. He barely even knows him. But then, he thought about this mysterious dragon's earlier words. _A little connection?_ What did that mean? He didn't know. Then, he thought about his mother, the elders, and the town folks in the village. If what this dragon was saying is true, then should he alert his mother, the elders and the others? Or should he protect them?**

**The mysterious dragon known as Spyro took note of his long silence before the smile on his face slowly diverted to a frown while his expression grew sympathetic.**

**"Listen, Blade. I'm not going to force you to do this. It's—"**

**"I'll do it." Blade responded before diverting his gaze forward to Spyro with determination in his eyes. "I'm ready."**

**Silence a bit, Spyro's eyes narrowed while his expression grew of determination before he issued a curt nod.**

**"Then, let's get started." **

**Suddenly, a single target appeared in the far distance opposite to where Spyro and Blade were standing.**

**Spyro's back was to the target, yet he knew that it was there while Blade's gaze grew of interest.**

**"Blade, here's your first test." Spyro stated as he stepped aside to reveal the target to Blade. "Use a fireball attack to destroy that target."**

**Silence, Blade issued a slight nod before approaching a few feet forward. As he got in position, he crouched on all four and instantly opened his maw while exhaling. Yet, no fire was unleashed.**

**Confusion masked the new purple dragon's face as he tried it again. But the results were the same, which issued Blade into a coughing fit. **

**During this predicament, Spyro approached him while snickering a bit upon Blade's first and second attempt.**

**"You alright?"**

**After unleashing one final cough, Blade straightened himself up and spoke.**

**"Yeah, I'm fine." He said as he looked to Spyro. "Guess I overdid it a little."**

**Spyro shook his head.**

**"More like under did it. Blade, you didn't spit out anything."**

**Silence, Blade issued a sigh of disappointment while Spyro took note of this with a measure of concern.**

**"Hey, don't sell yourself short. First and second attempts are often called practice. So there's no need to be disappointed by the results. Here, allow me to provide a demonstration for you."**

**As Blade watched, Spyro positioned himself in front of him, shook his body at ease a bit and spoke.**

**"The trick to unleashing a fireball attack is based on energy. You have to channel that type of energy in order to unleash it. Feel the burn, feel the heat…"**

**As his expression grew of strong determination, Spyro, on all four, issued into a lower crouch position.**

**"…Feel the fire." **

**Instantly, Spyro unleashed a medium-sized fireball attack that approached towards the target at breaking speed.**

**Upon contact, the target was obliterated to splinters while the action alone caught Blade by surprise.**

**"Whoa." He spoke as Spyro turned to him with a smile on his face.**

**"See? Now you try."**

**With a slight nod, Blade approached towards the previous position while another target respawned in the same spot. **

**As Blade stood there in silence, his determination grew strong while focusing on the energy to unleashed his attack. _Alright, focus._' His thoughts spoke while his expression hardened. '_Feel the burn, the heat…_'**

**Then, he felt it. He felt that blazing hot energy from within his body. Yet, he managed to keep his determination intact in order to not lose focus. **

**"The fire." He spoke.**

**Instantly, he crouched down on all four, and opened his maw. Out of his maw, a medium-sized fireball was unleashed. **

**As the fiery projectile soared at top speed, it came in contact with the target, blowing it to splinters as Spyro chuckled from the outcome while Blade grew in stunning shock.**

**"O-Oh, my God, I did it."**

**"You did."**

**Blade chuckled happily.**

**"Holy crap, I did it!"**

**Instantly, Spyro approached towards Blade's position and placed his left wing to his back in order to calm the overexcited dragon down.**

**The touch was enough to calm him a bit as Spyro spoke.**

**"That you did. But calm yourself down, okay? You're gonna give yourself a heart burn."**

**Regardless of his overexcited state, Blade snickered upon the jester before placing his gaze to Spyro. **

**"I never felt anything like that. That was cool."**

**Spyro, with a smile, issued a curt nod before speaking.**

**"That it was. But that was only the beginning. You still got more to go. You ready?"**

**"Hell, yes, I'm ready." He instantly spoke in his overexcited tone, but calmed himself and rephrased his comment. "I m-I mean, yes." **

**Spyro nodded.**

**"Alright, let's go." **

**Instantly, four more target objects appeared as Spyro issued Blade the second part of his first test: _The Twin Fireball Attack_. And, like before, the new purple dragon started things off, but only succeeded in letting loose a single fireball that obliterated a single target to splinters.**

**"The trick of this attack is pretty much the same as the first one, but it would require a considerable amount of energy to unleash it " Spyro explained while Blade nodded in comprehension.**

**As the mysterious purple dragon got in position in front of Blade, he eased his body a bit and lowered himself into a deep crouch while determination was etched on his face.**

**Then, Blade's expression grew of awe as he saw it. He saw a brief aura of fiery energy surrounding this dragon and before any more reaction was made, Spyro unleashed his double attack while the projectiles made contact with two targets with an explosive impact.**

**As Spyro turned towards Blade, he saw that the new purple dragon's expression grew stunned and speechless upon that scenery. **

**Nonetheless, Blade shook out of his stupor before waltzing towards his previous position while the two targets respawned and joined the other two.**

**As Spyro watched, Blade, with determination etched on his face, lowered to a deep crouch before going into focus. **

**It became difficult at first, but Blade eased off his frustration and kept to his focus. **

**In truth, Blade didn't know how much of this energy it took for this kind of attack. But regardless of that, he didn't deter from his focus.**

**Then, he felt it…that fiery energy. This energy was like the first one with a single fireball, but this was twice as strong. The simple aura of this energy grew startling, yet Blade didn't deter from his focus.**

**Eventually, he unleashed his attack as two fireballs were released from his maw and soared towards his targets at breaking speed. And, like Spyro, the impact results were the same.**

**Blade grew momentarily shocked by the outcome before Spyro beckoned him to try it again on the last two targets. **

**Regardless of his expression, Blade obeyed and performed the same procedure as before. Only this time, he was able to do it with ease while the energy was still surging in him as the last two targets were reduced to splinters upon contact with fire.**

**Afterwards, the energy aura depleted and Blade started breathing heavily from the pressure. **

**Spyro approached and provided his left wing to Blade's back in a measure of calm.**

**"You okay?"**

**While breathing, he gulped up saliva and spoke.**

**"That was…that was stronger than before." **

**"Like I said, it takes a considerable amount of energy for something like that to happen."**

**Blade gulped up saliva before placing his perplexing gaze to Spyro.**

**"Easier said. How come you're not like this?" **

**"Let's just say that I've had experience in the workplace."**

**Blade creased his left eyebrow.**

**"Really?"**

**Spyro nodded.**

**"Yep. But that's not important now. Let's start your next test."**

**"Next test?"**

**"Yeah. Time for you to fight."**

**Regardless of his state, Blade nodded and eased himself a bit before a single dummy, which took the shape of a small armored ape, appeared across from the two dragons. **

**The dummy appeared to be alive to Blade's notice before issuing his questionable gaze to Spyro, who issued a soft smirk to his face.**

**"Watch closely." He said before diverting his gaze forward.**

**As Blade watched, Spyro sprinted forward on all four towards the dummy ape, who did likewise on two feet. **

**As soon as they were in close range, Spyro used his horns to knock the dummy in the air. Then, while the dummy was hurling in the air, he jumped up, with his wings supporting, and issued two left and right claw attacks to the dummy.**

**To Blade's shock, the dummy was bleeding and scarred upon these attacks as Spyro somersaulted backwards and issued an attack with his two hinds legs.**

**Then, Blade felt it. He felt the soft flow in time as the attack occurred. And then again as Spyro somersaulted forward to issue a tail attack to the dummy.**

**Then, it stopped by the time Spyro issued a head butt to the dummy.**

**As the dummy crashed to the ground in the center, Spyro, with his gaze to the bloodied dummy, hovered for a moment, and then descended softly down to the ground. **

**Afterwards, he approached towards Blade's position, as the new purple dragon's expression grew stunned by the scenery.**

**"Uh…" Blade started as Spyro halted in front of him. "Are dummies suppose to bleed like that?" **

**"If they weren't alive, they shouldn't be. Are you ready?"**

**Blade grew hesitant for a while before nodding in response.**

**"Alright, get in position."**

**As Blade complied while Spyro stepped aside to apply space, another ape dummy appeared several feet in front of him. **

**Blade almost grew hesitant with intimidation before determination quickly etched on his face. **

**Without a word, he sprinted forward on the attack while the dummy followed suit from the opposite side. **

**As Spyro watched, he almost expected Blade to perform the attacks as demonstrated. But, to his surprise, that was beyond the case as this new purple dragon issued his own barrage of attacks.**

**As the dummy leaped for its prey, Blade followed suit. **

**The two almost collided with each other, but Blade managed to maneuver over the dummy. Before the dummy could pass him up, the new purple dragon grasped the ape around its midsection. He followed that up by rolling, along with the dummy, clockwise in midair while descending to the ground.**

**However, before he touched the ground on all four, Blade threw the dummy further across the training area as the dummy crashed against the wall while blood splattered from its back upon the harsh impact. **

**Blade, while panting softly, grew in stunned silence upon the outcome of that as the motionless dummy slid to the ground, along with its blood that's stained to the wall, and disintegrated.**

**With his stunned expression intact, Blade diverted his gaze to the ground.**

**"Wow." He said softly. "I didn't even know that I could do something like that." **

**"Neither can I."**

**Startled, Blade looked to his right side to find, to his shock, the mysterious dragon known as Spyro, whose surprised expression was still etched to his face. **

**"How did you—?" Blade started before Spyro intervened.**

**"Get here so fast? My little secret, but what's yours?" He asked while Blade grew confused upon the question. "You know, I kind of expected you to follow instructions upon demonstration, but you've performed a different maneuver. What's your secret?"**

**Cluelessly, Blade shook his head.**

**"I don't-I don't know. It could've been instinct."**

**Silence, Spyro loosened his expression and diverted his gaze forward with a nod.**

**"Huh. It could've. But then again, it could've been opportunistic. One that serves as an advantage to the enemy." He said before diverting his gaze to Blade. "You should use that more often."**

**Although clueless, Blade responded with a nod as Spyro nodded in kind with a smile.**

**"Okay. Let's continue."**

**Throughout the entire training session, Blade was able to master his combat skills as well as his skill in breathing fire. **

**Most of the time, he was pitted against Spyro in an attempt at dodging, strafing, and countering projectile attacks, both on four and, if necessary, on hind legs as well. It was something that he grew hesitant in doing out of fear, yet courage seeped its way into his being upon a reminder of the mysterious dragon's earlier words of not only motivation, but also prediction.**

**After they were done, they took a rest break from the center as both Spyro and Blade were catching their breath.**

**"You know something? You're a natural, Blade." Spyro complimented, with his gaze to Blade, who returned the expression.**

**"Really?"**

**"Yeah. Looks like there's hope for you in the future yet."**

**Blade regarded his comment with a smile, but as he diverted his gaze forward, his smile diverted to a frown while his expression grew of wonder upon a thought that recently crossed his mind.**

**Spyro took note of this with a hint of concern. **

**"Blade, what's wrong?" He asked**

**Silence. **

**"Nothing's wrong. It's just…" Blade halted his comment and directed his gaze to Spyro. "During your demonstration of combat, I noticed a flow in time has occurred. What was that?"**

**"Something that would help you greatly. It is called Dragon Time."**

**"Dragon Time?"**

**Spyro nodded.**

**"Yep. It's a technique that enables you to control the flow of time." **

**Blade's expression grew of awed shock upon that news.**

**"Really?"**

**"Yes." **

**"Can you teach me?"**

**Spyro shook his head.**

**"No." He responded while Blade's expression grew of disappointment.**

**"Why not?"**

**"The only one that could teach you this technique is the one that is strongly skilled at this. He goes by the name of The Chronicler." **

**Blade's expression quickly piqued with interest.**

**"The Chronicler?"**

**"Yes."**

**"Where can I find him?" **

**"You don't find him. He finds you." Spyro's words echoed.**

**Blade took note of the echo and before he knew what was happening, a bright light engulfed the entire scenery.  
**

* * *

Blade opened his eyes and quickly surveyed his surroundings to find that he was still in the room in his bed.

All the while, his expression grew of confusion.

'_Was I dreaming?_' His thoughts questioned

After clear thinking, he slightly shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't have been through that training in the middle of the late night. So it had to be a dream. If it weren't, then he wouldn't be in his bed.

Regardless, he couldn't help but think about the dreadful words embedded into his mind that forced his expression into worries.

"_Something's going to happen, Blade. It's something bad, something evil._"

* * *

**A/N: _I was aching to get this one done, which is why it's long. Last chap, I mentioned a spiritual entity would issue Blade his training and a word of warning of a possible threat. If anyone is wondering who, well, now you know who it is. SURPRISE!! Well, half of the surprise. Anyway, next one is, well, not as quite long as the other two, but otherwise, very recommendable to read. So keep on the lookout!_**

**_Next Chap_: _Glacia learns a stunning discovery in regards to Blade._**


	7. Adamantium

Chapter Six: **Adamantium  
****

* * *

**

Blade awoke the next morning to a new day and his mind was at ease. All thoughts of last night's unusual dream have escaped him for the moment.

Although he has thought about it, he never came around to telling anyone about it since, to him, it was only a dream and nothing of importance.

Right now, it was late that morning and he was perched outside on the grassy area looking out into the beautiful sunlight with his new friend, Dawn.

Their next game of _Dragonfly Tag_ wasn't until later that afternoon, which issued him and Dawn to have some friendly time together.

Most of the time, they would stare at the clouds and identify its shape. Other times, they would talk about the Dragonfly Tag game, which gave both Blade and Dawn a few laughs and such.

But then, silence took over before something recently came to Dawn's mind in regards to one word: _Family._

She neglected asking Blade this question before since he was having a good time yesterday with Dragonfly Tag. But now that they were alone, she felt the sudden need to ask the question.

"Blade?"

Blade diverted his gaze from the morning sky to Dawn, whose pondering gaze was to the ground before it was diverted to the purple dragon's eyes.

"I was just wondering about your family."

Blade creased his right brow upon the comment.

"My family?"

"Yeah."

"What about them?"

"Well, I noticed your mother this morning. But…"

She hesitated a bit as Blade noticed.

"But what?"

She grew hesitant for a while and spoke.

"Don't take this as an offensive gesture, Blade. But I know what a family consist of. So my question is: _Do you have a father?_"

The question immediately caught Blade off guard at the moment as he stammered on his words a bit.

Dawn anticipated her mistake and shook her head.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up."

Blade shook his head.

"No, No, No. It's just…"

He hesitated for a while before speaking.

"It's just that…I was never told about my father. Even when the day that I was born, I never thought of bringing that up."

In silence, Dawn nodded comprehensively in response before Blade spoke.

"So, uh, what about your family?"

For a moment, Dawn hesitated before diverting her gaze forward with a far-off expression on her face.

"My mother died when I was a hatchling and my father, from what I was told, was never seen or heard from in these parts of the realms again. So I'm pretty much of an orphan in Uncle Flame and Aunt Ember's care."

Silence, Blade issued a soft nod in comprehension.

"Oh."

"You know, sometimes I have dreams about them, mostly about my mother. But I never spoke of it to anybody to avoid any kind of emotional wreckage."

Blade nodded.

"I can relate."

Dawn issued her gaze to Blade while creasing her right brow.

"Experience with dreams?"

Blade shook his head.

"No, No. Not emotionally, but somewhat strange. Other than that, it was nothing of importance."

"You had a strange dream that was nothing of importance?"

Blade nearly stammered on his words before issuing a chuckle from his maw while Dawn did the same.

"You know, you're cute when you're stammering like that."

Silence, Blade involuntarily blushed.

"Uh, thanks."

Dawn took note of his expression and snickered.

Afterwards, they resumed their stare into the morning sky while taking in the cool breeze around their bodies.

* * *

That early afternoon, Glacia took her son to see the professor at his lab for an examination.

But the professor requested the examination by curious nature in pertaining to the spikes on Blade's body.

While Glacia obliged, Blade grew a bit nervous as his mother noticed.

"Blade, calm down. It's just a routine bodily scan. You're going to be okay."

Silence, Blade eased himself in a measure of calm and nodded in response.

In all honesty, Glacia was kind of curious herself in regards to the protruding spikes on her son's bodily form. Mentally, she wondered what these spikes were, but left that issue to the professor.

Within a few minutes, they've reached the laboratory where the professor resides in.

* * *

Minutes later, Blade was standing in the middle of a huge square-like machinery device. Fear almost consumed the purple dragon, but he eased himself a bit as the scan commenced while the procedure was under monitor.

* * *

Many technological types of machinery occupy this medium-sized place as Glacia stood at watch on the machine while Professor Steintail, age forty-four, was gazing the monitor and awaiting the results.

The professor appears as a grey hyena in lab clothing. He had neatly brushed ears and a bushy tail, not to mention the claws on his hand that was consumed by a pair of gloves.

As the years went by, the professor and his teams of gifted inventors were very respected around the realms whether by dragons or the town folks.

His inventors were partially the reason that the realm is what it is today. Other results of futuristic technology are just from years passed.

Glacia remembered Ignitus telling her of such an individual, but didn't give it as much interest to it until now.

"How long does this usually take, professor?" Glacia asked, her gazed droned to the scanner that withheld her son.

With his gaze droned to the monitor, Steintail spoke.

"Normally, this doesn't take more than ten minutes. Hopefully, the results will indicate to us of why it is passed the exceeded time rate."

Glacia nodded in comprehension as they resumed their wait.

The wait took nearly five minutes before a beeping sound issued from the monitor as the results appeared on the screen.

Upon his observation of the results, Steintail grew in stunned awe while Glacia took note of this.

"Unbelievable." He spoke.

"What?" Glacia asked as she waltzed over and took a look for herself.

"It's unlike anything I've ever seen."

"What are they?" She asked while still observing the results.

"According to the results, those silver spikes on your son's bodily form…are made of an alloy known as _Adamantium_."

Glacia looked from the results to the professor with an expression that's both of surprise and fear.

"Adamantium?" She repeated as the professor nodded. "W-what does that mean?"

"The name actually has reference to a strong, hardened legendary mineral known only as Adamantine. This type of mineral is extremely potent with impenetrable hardness. Normally, this type of alloy strains pain to the body due to the hardened minerals, but remarkably, he seems well. No indication of pain at all."

Glacia issued a sigh of relief upon that news. Yet, she couldn't help but feel a great amount of worry for her son as she issued her gaze to the machine that withheld the young purple dragon.

True, she's relieved by the news that her son isn't put to harm by this type of alloy. But what would happen if he had matured? What would this Adamantium do to her son then?

The answer grew in silence, yet she shook the thoughts from her mind. Her son is well and that was all that mattered.

As Steintail shut down the machine, Blade made his exit while Glacia issued her gratitude to him for his services.

Steintail nodded in kind before Glacia and Blade made their exit from the place.

* * *

A/N: _**Stunning, isn't it? When I recently caught a glimpse of Cynder's bodily feature in the Eternal Night game, I thought about creating a dragon that's more or less subtle in appearance. Anyway, keep on the lookout for more. Ciao!**_

_Next Chap_: _**Dargaul and his minions discover the surprising identity of the cloaked entity responsible for their revival.**_


	8. Plan of Attack

Chapter Seven: **Plan Of Attack

* * *

**

In the dawn of the coming night, a lone, automated fortress was in place in the middle of Dreadwing Territory.

The fortress was huge and square-like with four barred windows on each sides of the place. The structure of the place was composed of strong steel as well as the front entrance door where three pairs of dreadwing creatures were posted nearby.

The roof was also littered with three pairs of dreadwings as four spires, which passed itself off as a hangar door to open and unleash the creatures, surrounded them.

A number of vicious dreadwings were flying over the fortress while some of these creatures were elsewhere in the region.

* * *

Inside a well-decorated throne room, Dargaul and his minions were assembled horizontally in the midsection of the room awaiting the arrival of the mysterious dark garment figure who has revived them back to the world of the living.

Recently, Dargaul mentally questioned why they were brought back.

True, the thought of dealing with dragons would satisfy not only his namesake, but his undying, bloodcurdling hatred as well. But he has already dealt with the creature held responsible for his reckoning. He has bared witness to it himself, at least half of the way. So why has this became an issue now?

He also questioned how this mysterious individual was able to construct a fortress in the most hostile of places that houses the vicious dreadwings, yet he left that issue alone and got back on point of his first thoughts.

But he didn't have time to process his thoughts as a number of dark portals issued inside the room near the entrance as Dargaul and his minions took notice of them.

Emerging from the dark portals were nine cloaked figures in dark garment with similar insignias. The tenth one in the middle of the group held a golden staff in his hand that withheld a prism-shaped crystal.

Dargaul took note of this and came to the indication that this mysterious individual was the leader of this cultist-like group. Regardless, he grew quiet as the leader approached towards the dragon hunter's position.

As soon as he was there, he halted as Dargaul issued his stern gaze to the leader before asking the question that was recently on his mind.

"Who are you?" He asked

In response, the leader signaled his group to unveil themselves as the group responded in kind by reaching for their hoods and pulling it back to reveal their faces.

But when Dargaul saw the groups faces, he and his minions almost got on alert upon this sight, yet they were reminded earlier that they were unarmed at the time, which issued the dragon hunter's anger at the moment.

The nine group's facial features were that of dragons. Two were blue, two were yellow, two were green, and three were black.

Each was male and has pair sets of horns whether the shapes are curved backward, straight, or ram-like.

As Dargaul slowly looked towards the leader with the expression of anger intact, the leader reached for his hood with his left hand while his right hand wielded the staff.

"Allow me to introduce myself." He said before unveiling himself as the face of a red dragon with horns similar to that of the fire guardian and an expression of evil intent. "My name is Flaron…leader of the Dark Horns."

Dargaul, regardless of weapons, felt himself compelled to rip this dragon to shreds and order his minions to do the same with the others, but managed to refrain himself for the moment before confusion masked his facial feature upon remembering this leader's earlier words.

"I don't understand. Why would you want me to go after your own kind?"

Flaron grew in silence for a while as his expression stayed stern.

"Because, like you on a different perspective, I too have longed to gain something beyond my wildest dreams only for it to be taken away from me by the four elder guardians. And that reason is why I loathed them for years. But recently, I have gained a way in becoming what I, including my brotherhood; have yearned of becoming since the beginning. However, in order to do that, it will require all four elders. That is where you and your minions come in."

In silence, Dargaul slightly loosened his expression and gave it some thought. True, this individual was responsible for resurrecting him and his minions, but the thought of having the Dark Horns as allies has disgusted him at the moment due to the fact that allying himself with dragons would go up against his namesake. For that reason, he thought about declining the offer, but thought of something else instead.

"You know, I would rather die a painful death rather than pledge my allegiance to you." His soft voice grew venomous as he spoke. "So before I make my declination on your precious offer, I have one question for you: _What's in it for me?_"

Flaron grew unflinching upon his venomous words, but somehow understood his reasons for his hatred upon his kind. And due to those reasons, he came up with a simple solution to this as an evil smirk plastered on his face.

"The revival of someone who has recently came to an untimely pass."

Dargaul's expression of anger slowly changed with an expression of surprise as his mind was raced with thoughts. _Could he do it? Could this leader bring back someone that was lost to him for years?_

Mentally, he thought that was impossible, but then thought about what has happened at his old fortress in regards to his revival.

_'If he was able to revive me, then_…' Dargaul's thoughts spoke, but halted as anticipation was etched on his face.

Flaron stood still with the evil smirk intact.

"Are we at an agreement?" He asked

Silence, Dargaul thought back on the leader's proposal and grew convinced before issuing a stern expression on his face and striking his left arm to his chest as a measure of respect and loyalty.

"Yes." He said softly with an added curt nod

His minions grew perplexed by this as Dargaul slowly issued a threatening glare to them as a warning signal to follow his lead.

Without question, they quickly performed the same strike pose as their leader as Flaron nodded with approval.

"Good."

"What is our plan of attack?" He asked

"Simple. You will launch an attack on the village tonight and capture the four elder guardians. _That_ is your first objective. The dreadwings will issued their services to you. If anyone hinders your progress, you do what you do best: Shoot to kill. Alive or dead, the elders are to be brought here to me. Once they are captured, you'll receive your next objective."

Dargaul and his minions nodded in response as Flaron nodded in turn before raising his right hand that held the staff.

A glow issued from the crystal before numerous beams shot out and made direct contact with Dargaul and his minions providing them with their spear arm-gauntlet weapons.

After the task was done, Dargaul surveyed his weapon for a while and nodded before leaving, his minions trailing behind.

As he made his departure, Dargaul mentally questioned the leader's reasons for these plans, but regardless, he left the issue alone as he and his minions made haste to the outside where the dreadwing creatures were in wait.

As Flaron watched, his brotherhood members joined him before the leader issued a dark evil chuckle from his maw.

* * *

A/N: _**Surprising revelation, huh? Keep on the lookout for more! Ciao!**_

_Next Chap_: _**Ignitus recalls a promise that he made years ago in regards to the thirteen-year-old tragedy.**_


	9. A Promise Made

Chapter Eight: **A Promise Made  
****

* * *

**

(**One Hour Later**)

Blade was seated outside in the backyard of the temple in the middle of the approaching night droning his gaze upon the two statues.

Momentarily, he grew in shock upon reading and recognizing an inscription on the embedded stone.

_'Spyro._' His thoughts spoke.

Then, his thoughts raced to the dream that he had and the words that recently came to his mind.

'_Connection. What could that mean?_' Blade's thoughts wondered.

No matter how much he tried to think about it, he was unable to figure the clues out at this point.

Then, he looked and saw another name right next to the previous one.

'_Cynder?_'

His thoughts and expression were in question. _Who was Cynder?_

"A gem for your thoughts?" A voice spoke.

Blade almost grew startled, but calmed himself upon recognition of the voice.

The fire guardian Ignitus made his presence known in the view of the moonlight as he made his approach, on all four, and halted to Blade's right side.

The purple dragon placed his gaze to Ignitus while the fire guardian droned his solemn gaze to the statues before him.

In silence, Blade followed the guardian's example before issuing a question to Ignitus that has been on his mind recently.

"Ignitus?"

Ignitus, for a moment, was in silence while his gaze droned to the statue. But regardless, he spoke.

"Yes, Blade?"

Blade hesitated a bit before speaking.

"W-Who's Spyro?"

Ignitus almost flinched upon mention of the name, but instead, he slowly shut his eyes before speaking.

"Spyro…is one of the legendary purple dragons; the second, and supposedly last, of the rare species with the extraordinary abilities to master the many elements."

Creasing his right brow, Blade looked to Ignitus with a hint of confusion upon his comment as the fire guardian opened his eyes to the statues in front of him.

"The second?" He repeated as Ignitus slightly nodded. "Who was the first?"

"The first one was a dragon by the name of the Dark Master."

Blade's expression didn't deter as he spoke.

"The Dark Master?"

Ignitus nodded in response before relating to Blade of the legendary story of the first purple dragon while, at the same time, preventing himself from revealing the true identity of this dragon. He told him that this dragon was once a force for good until greed and power deterred the dragon's fate into a destiny of darkness. He also explained the war that was fought against this enemy, who has later gained the title of the Dark Master. But the war ultimately led to this dragon's demise.

After he was done, Blade grew in stunned shock from the story before diverting his gaze forward.

"Wow." Blade silently spoke. "W-What about Spyro?"

Ignitus issued a heavy sigh from his breath as he struggled from unleashing a single tear from his eyes. But regardless, he decided to tell the story.

He started by telling how he and Spyro met years ago when the realms were in ruination by war.

He also explained to Blade that, at a young age, the secondary purple dragon was seeking his origin and discovering what he is. The entire story led to the point where he mentioned Cynder, the black dragoness, who became a pawn for the forces of evil.

Blade momentarily grew stunned by this story, but kept silence as Ignitus resumed by telling the new purple dragon of the heroic deeds that this purple dragon of the past has accomplished over the years, not just his part in freeing Cynder from the clutches of evil or preventing a plot to resurrect the Dark Master.

Mentally, Blade wanted to question Ignitus on what has happened with Cynder, but decided against it for a while.

As soon as Ignitus was done, Blade, who's gaze was diverted downward, grew silence, yet the mere fact that this second purple dragon was a hero was enough to have him stunned with joy, but he managed to contain himself.

Mentally, he wondered if that was what his dream meant. _Was he the third of the rare species of purple dragons that has been legends for generations? Was that the connection?_

Ignitus looked down to Blade and took note of the expression on his face.

"Are you alright, young one?"

Blade grew in silence for a while before diverting his gaze forward and finding the energy to speak.

"Uh, well, yeah, I'm fine." He said before looking up to Ignitus. "But, um, one question: Am I the third of this rare species that you've mentioned?"

Silence, Ignitus nodded in response as Blade, whose gaze was instantly diverted downward upon the revelation, exhaled from his maw with a hint of stunning surprise.

"Wow. So, uh, what ever happened to him?" He asked as his gaze diverted to the fire guardian.

Instantly, upon that question, Ignitus' expression grew solemn before speaking.

"He is no longer with us, young one. He has passed on."

Blade's expression slowly grew of sorrow.

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

With a soft nod, Ignitus stood in silence before he diverted his gaze to the two statues.

Then, the purple dragon's expression grew in question to something that recently came to his mind earlier.

"Um, Ignitus?"

"Yes?" He responded, his gaze droned to the statues.

Blade grew hesitated once again before speaking.

"Um, d-do I have a father?"

The question almost caught Ignitus off-guard at the moment as he fought the tears from relinquishing in his eyes. With a heavy sigh escaping his maw, he spoke.

"Young one, if you don't mind, I would wish to not speak of this any longer."

Blade almost, out of desperation, protested at this point, but refrained himself from doing so out of respect for the fire guardian elder. Mentally, he questioned his sudden reaction, yet he was clueless. Was it anxiety? He didn't know.

Regardless, Blade understood and issued his nod to Ignitus before making his way back into the temple.

As soon as Blade was out of sight, a single tear was relinquished from Ignitus' left eye as he slowly shut both his eyes while the teardrop fell.

"If only you knew the truth, young one." He said as he opened his teary eyes and looked up towards the two statues before him. "If only you knew."

Mentally, he wanted to tell Blade about his father, but neglected that idea due to a recall of a promise he made to Glacia years back.

* * *

(**Nine Years Ago**)

**In the middle of the late night, Glacia, at age twenty-two, stood by the open window looking towards the moonlight with her arms folded on the windowsill while her expression grew of worry.**

**She tried sleeping moments ago, but due to the recurring dreams that haunted her, it was becoming very difficult at this point. Hence the reason why she silently snuck out of her bed and approached the window without waking her four-year-old son.**

**But something else was on her mind and the dreams were the least of her worries.**

**She once again thought about the issue of telling her son about his father, but again, she neglected the idea for the obvious reasons. Then, came into thought of something else before her expression became one of dread.**

**True, she would assume that young Blade would ask her of his father or his whereabouts whenever he was in a curious state of mind. It was also true that she would avoid speaking words of it, but what was to stop the purple dragon from getting the information from someone else?**

**Mentally, she hoped that it wouldn't come to that. At his recommended age, she wouldn't want him in that kind of emotional turmoil.**

**"Glacia?" A voice whispered**

**Glacia nearly flinched in fright upon the voice, but issued a calm stature when she saw the fire guardian Ignitus approaching silently by her side.**

**As she resumed looking out the window, Ignitus took note of this as well as her early reaction before speaking.**

"**Are you alright?" He asked.**

**With an expression of dread slowly returning to her face, Glacia grew in silence for a while before a deep sigh escaped her breath.**

**"No. Actually, I'm not."**

**"What's wrong?" He asked.**

"**Well, its…" She almost stammered on her words before issuing a sigh from her breath. "Ignitus, will you promise me something?"**

**The sudden question almost caught the fire guardian off-guard, yet he kept his steady posture before speaking.**

"**It depends on your request, my dear."**

**Glacia stayed her gaze to the outside world before speaking.**

"**I want you to promise me that you will not tell my son anything in regards to his father."**

**Ignitus' expression grew of stunning surprise upon the comment and was almost compelled to protesting against the idea before Glacia noticed and resumed.**

"**Look, if he ask about who Spyro is, you can tell him about all the good that he has done in the past, but the rest stays deep, including the fact that he has a father. The only thing that he needs to know is that Spyro has passed on fighting the good fight. That's all, just in case he ask about what happened to him."**

**"But Glacia, he has a right to know."**

"**Trust me, I would want him to know too if Spyro was alive."**

"**But Glacia, to keep this from him—"**

**"Ignitus, please listen. If Blade were to find out the truth about his father, he would be devastated." She said before issuing her pleading gaze to the fire guardian at the same time keeping her tears at bay. "I do not want my son in that kind of state. Please promise me."**

**Ignitus stood in stunned silence. Mentally, he wanted to protest against this, but understood the reason why.**

**If what happened with Spyro was any indication of emotional strain that both Glacia and Ember felt, who knows what kind of emotional wreckage that Blade would be in if he knew.**

**With a deep sigh issuing from his maw, Ignitus slowly lowered his head and closed his eyes before speaking.**

"**Very well, Glacia." He said as he opened his eyes to Glacia and nodded. "I promise."**

**Silence, Glacia issued a soft smile to her face.**

**"Thank you." She spoke softly.  
****

* * *

**

Part of the fire guardian has regretted making that promise. Recently, he was discomfort with keeping things from Blade for this long. The last thing he wants to do is deprive the purple dragon of the truth. But another part of him told him otherwise.

Glacia did have a point. If Blade ever knew the deep, tragic truth behind his father, who knows what would happen.

Sniffing up the falling tears, Ignitus closed his eyes and bowed his head while the tears stained the ground before issuing a silent prayer to the statues and making his leave back inside the temple.

* * *

A/N: _**Unsettling, I know. In the next, long chap, the action will begin! Keep on the lookout!**_

_Next Chap_: _**A savage attack on the dragon village leads to tragedy**_.


	10. Under Siege

Chapter Nine: **Under Siege  
****

* * *

**

As the night progresses, at possibly the same hour, Glacia, at the moment, was helping Ember and Flame reorganize some heavy baskets of fruits in their village home.

During this process, Ember couldn't help but issue her gaze to the ice dragoness. Recently, she questioned where the ice dragon was from. And Glacia provided an answer for her in the form of two words: _Winter Tundra_, the icy cold village realm.

The personal conversation would've gotten further, but Glacia chose to leave that issue alone for the right reason that Ember understood.

She remembered Glacia telling her about her deceased parents that were killed in the war years ago, which placed her in the care of villagers. But it didn't get any further than that.

Then, recently, Ember came into thought of the ice dragoness' appearance. Glacia's appearance recently came into question pertaining to her late friend by herself and Flame, but she left that issue alone.

Years ago, before their dispute on the tragedy, she strongly confronted Glacia, due to her appearance, on the subject of replacing her deceased friend, but the ice dragoness issued a strong verbal response to those assertive comments. She has no intention of replacing Cynder or anyone else for that matter, vice-versa with her son, Blade.

Since then, it has taken a few years, but Ember was eventually convinced.

As soon as they were done with the reorganization, they all took a reprieve before Ember spoke to Glacia on a subject that recently came to mind while Flame took note of this and observed.

"Glacia?"

"Yes?"

Ember grew hesitant at this point in order to try and be careful with her words.

"Um, can I ask you a question?"

Glacia nodded in response as Ember took a deep breath before speaking.

"H-How do you sleep at night knowing that the person that you care about is gone?"

Ember nearly regretted asking that question, but it wasn't out of anger towards the ice dragoness at all. She was acting on a saddened emotion in reminisce to her deceased friends and she was almost on the verge of tears upon such thoughts.

Glacia took note of her expression before diverting her saddened gaze downward and speaking.

"It's never easy, Ember." She said before slowly shaking her head. "Hell, I almost thought about dying myself when the dreams started haunting my mind over and over again. But…"

She halted herself as she looked to Ember with a soft loving smile on her face.

"Thanks to Ignitus and Blade, I was given as much comfort as possible to deter me from that fate. Blade is my life. And I would die first before I let anything happen to him."

Ember couldn't help but look onto Glacia with such admiration. Saying those types of words reminded her and Flame so much of the purple friend that they have lost.

Ember issued a soft smile to her face as Flame, who smiled upon the scenery, stood up on his hind legs and issued his comforting hug to the pink dragoness.

Ember returned the embrace as Glacia nodded and made her leave back to the temple while the two couple watched her departure.

"Is Dawn asleep?" Ember asked.

Flame nodded.

"Yes, she's at rest." He said as he kissed her forehead gently. "Let's get some rest ourselves."

Ember nodded in response before she and Flame did the ordeal.

* * *

Blade was seated at his bed and was wide-awake. He tried sleeping, but he couldn't. The heed of warning from last night's dream has entered his train of thoughts, which frightened him at this point.

'_Something's going to happen, Blade. It's something bad, something evil._' Spyro's warning echoed at the fabric of Blade's mind.

But the question on the young dragon's mind was: _Why?_ Why would an unprovoked attack take place here at the temple?

Blade's answer to his thoughts ended in silence, yet he came up with a solution.

'_Maybe Ignitus would know._' His mental thoughts suggested.

He still found it hard to believe that a dream like that could come true in an instance, but regardless, he decided to speak with the fire guardian about it.

Getting out of his bed, he made his way out of the room.

* * *

The elder guardians, which consist of Ignitus, Cyril, Volteer, and Terrador, were assembled around the vision pool for a brief meeting.

Momentarily, the fire guardian's expression grew of shock and worry upon what was told to him before speaking.

"Are you certain?" He asked.

Cyril, the ice guardian, nodded.

"Yes. We saw it for ourselves."

"How long ago did we receive this?"

"Shortly after we re-entered the temple from our commemoration to the deceased." Volteer, the electric guardian, spoke.

Ignitus was in stunned silence at this point as the other elders noticed, but stayed silence for a while.

"I prayed that this day would never come." He spoke silently to himself before addressing the other elders with a hint of strong determination in his voice. "Elders, head to the armory and prepare yourselves. I will join you shortly."

Silence and without question, the three elders issued nods of response to the fire guardian.

* * *

Throughout a period of five minutes, Blade was standing next to the door with an expression of both fear and shock upon what he has heard from the other side of the door.

At first, he was in denial about it, but upon what he heard, it grew shocking to say the least. It appears that his dream was coming true.

Slowly, he withdrew his head from the door and started retreating backwards before he slightly collided with someone.

With a flinch of fright, he turned and found that his mother, on her hind legs, was staring down at him with a stern expression on her face.

"Eavesdropping, are we, son?"

Blade swallowed a bit of saliva, yet he couldn't speak out of fear as Glacia noticed with great concern.

"Blade, what's wrong?"

Blade stammered on his words at this point as Glacia kneeled to her son's length and placed a firm hand to the back of his head in order to keep him calm.

Blade felt himself at ease, but fear was still present in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Glacia asked

Silence.

"I don't know. I-I can't explain it, but something bad is going to happen here."

Silence, Glacia shook her head in an unconvincing manner.

"Blade, nothing is going to happen. You're probably just having a nightmare."

"No, No, M-mom, something bad is going to happen here. Ask Ignitus. He—"

Blade didn't get much of a chance to finish before the circular door opened and Ignitus crossed the threshold towards the ice dragoness, who, along with the purple dragon, took note of his alarming expression.

"Ignitus, what's—"

"Glacia, I want you to prepare everyone in the village as soon as you possibly can. Direct them, including Blade and yourself, to safety at the hatch door that leads underground."

"Wh-What is going on, Ignitus?"

Ignitus grew in silence for a while and spoke.

"There's going to be an attack on the village."

Glacia's expression slowly rose to shock upon the revelation.

"What?" She spoke softly.

Before Ignitus could speak any further, he looked down and noticed Blade's attention diverted downward with an expression of guilt while tears relinquished from his eyes.

"Young one, what's wrong?"

With his eyes etched in tears, Blade looked up to the fire guardian before Glacia spoke while looking down to her son.

"He overheard you mention an attack on the village and it scared him to death."

Silence, Ignitus grew sympathetic towards the purple dragon. So much that he was compelled to place his right claw on the back of the purple dragon's head as a sign of comfort.

"Blade, it's going to be alright. Because—"

"Ignitus…" Blade interrupted as he sniffed up his tears before speaking the words that he neglected to mention. "There's something I have to tell you. I had a dream last night and I was told that this was going to happen. Only I didn't tell you about it earlier because I didn't think that it was real or not. I thought it was just a dream."

"Blade…" Glacia started, but Blade resumed.

"I didn't ev-I didn't even think that it was anything of importance."

"Young one, calm yourself." Ignitus eventually spoke in a soft tone.

Blade managed to calm down a bit, yet the guilt remained on his facial feature as he sniffed up the remainder of his tears.

"I'm so sorry." He spoke softly.

"No one holds you accountable, young dragon. You had no idea of knowing that this would happen, so you're not entirely at fault."

Blade managed to ease himself a bit as Ignitus issued his gaze to Glacia, who issued her attention to the fire guardian.

"But it won't be long before they get here. So I want you to—"

Suddenly, a muffled explosion and cries of fear and pain were in the distance, which caught Glacia, Blade, and the fire guardian's attention at the same time a silent alarm issued inside the temple.

"_Warning! Airborne hostiles on approach._" A female computerized voice echoed throughout the temple before repeating the comments over and over again.

Then, a slight rumble issued around the castle, yet the three dragons in the corridor has kept to their balance.

Wasting little time, Glacia, Ignitus, and Blade made haste to the front entrance.

* * *

As soon as they made it to the entrance, they abruptly halted on the stop in witness to a startling and shocking display.

Multiple fires were blazing over village homes and flaming debris was everywhere throughout the grass patches.

But the scene that issued gasping fear to young Blade was the fiery, bloody corpse of a couple of unlucky villagers who, during evacuation from their homes, were caught in the crossfire of the explosion.

One of the female villagers was kneeled down next to one of the deceased victims screaming at the top of her lungs for her lost one.

The sight of this angered the fire guardian and Glacia to no end before another nearby explosion issued from their right side.

The three dragons took sharp head turns to that direction to find that a few of the village homes on that side has been demolished and destroyed; yet killing a few more evacuating villagers in the process.

Ignitus growled angrily upon such heinous acts as the three dragons looked up to the night sky to find a couple of dreadwings flying overhead of the village area. Each was carrying drop bombs and was mounted by, to the fire guardian's surprise, armor-clad apes.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the sky, the dragon hunter, Dargaul, was mounted on one hovering dreadwing as he looked down in observance to the carnage from up far.

Then, his expression grew in rising shock as he noticed a small purple dragon at the entrance of the temple from his distance.

Then, a thirteen-year-old memory resurfaced: A memory of a spear severing half of his head and the face of the purple dragon responsible for that attack.

Almost instantly, he recognized it.

_'No. It can't be._' His thoughts spoke in denial.

But there was no denying the truth. That was a purple dragon. The question on his mind was: _How was it possible after he saw to his death thirteen years ago?_

His answer grew in silence. But the mere fact that this purple dragon was alive has once again fueled his undying hatred for revenge. But regardless of that, he didn't want to deter from the original plan.

The elders were coming into battle with them soon. And when that happened, he plans to issue an order to apprehend the purple dragon by any means necessary.

* * *

Back at the temple entrance…

"Glacia, take Blade inside and keep him safe. Then, come back for the villagers. I'll provide you some time. Go!"

As he spreads his wings in an attempt to take flight, Glacia's expression grew of worry towards the fire guardian.

"But what about you? You're unarmed."

"Go!" Ignitus briefly shouted.

Silence, Glacia, in spite of her worried expression, nodded in response as Ignitus took to the air towards the army of dreadwings.

As soon as he left, Glacia raced back into the temple with her son.

* * *

As Glacia entered her room, she inspected the entire area before looking down to Blade, who was beyond frightened and was on the verge of tears.

Upon notice to this, Glacia kneeled to his length and braced her right hand to the back of his head.

"Blade, I want you to hide in your basket and don't leave until I come back. Do you understand?"

"But Mom—"

"Do you understand me?!" She shouted out of anxiety.

Blade nearly flinched upon her outburst, but understood her reasons and nodded in response before racing over to his bed and hiding under the blankets for cover.

* * *

As Glacia left the room, she issued a voice command to the panel and the door automatically slid to a close before issuing a sigh of relief.

Blade was safe. Now she had to get to the remaining villagers before they become victimized in these attacks.

Wasting little time, she made haste back to the front entrance.

* * *

As soon as she got there, she looked up to find that the other three guardians, armors and weapons present on them, had exited the upper automated rooftop and joined Ignitus in their air assault against the dreadwings, the rooftop hatch closing afterwards.

Then, she looked forward to find that the grief-stricken villager was still present at the same spot surrounded by the carnage.

She started to rush over there towards her, but by the time she took a step, she abruptly halted and shielded herself with her wings as a bomb has dropped at that very spot, blowing the female villager and its previous victim to pieces while earthly soils, blood and body parts were scattered in different directions.

Slowly withdrawing her wings from in front of her, Glacia bared witness to this with an expression of strong sadness, yet anger replaced that expression as she looked up to find that dreadwings were still overhead. Yet, it won't be long before the bomb-carrying ones issue another attack on the homes and the temple.

Quickly, she sprinted across the patch, passed the debris and flames, towards the remaining village homes.

Glacia started to the home that occupied Flame, Ember, and Dawn. But by the time she got there, no one was inside.

"Flame?! Ember?! Dawn?!" She called as she searched every available spot, yet there was no sign of them.

"GLACIA!!" A voice called from outside.

Glacia issued a sharp head turn to the entrance and rushed outside to find the source of the voice.

"OVER HERE!!"

It sounded like Flame.

She looked to the left, pass the debris, to find Flame, Ember, and Dawn at the entrance to Steintail's laboratory in the far distance along with Hunter and Bianca.

* * *

Inside the laboratory, every single villager, whether dragons that are young and old, or town folks, were stationed inside the place and was in the process of entering the hatch at the far rear end of the place that led to an underground safe spot where Steintail and his gifted inventors has stocked many of their replaceable resources and inventories in case something as dire as this should occur.

Sadly, many villagers were unlucky in their evacuation during this attack, which reduced them to casualties.

* * *

Flame, at the moment, was desperately beckoning to Glacia.

"GLACIA, COME ON!! EVERYONE ELSE IS INSIDE!!" He shouted as Glacia started rushing towards that area.

However, she didn't get pretty far before a bomb dropped and a wide explosion issued to the ground right in front of her while debris followed afterwards.

As time virtually slows, the impact of the blast was enough to blow her in mid-air while the fragments of the earthly soil issued around her.

As time reverted to normal, she grunted in pain as she collided and rolled on the ground before eventually coming to a halt on her back. Luckily, she didn't sustain as much damage from the explosion than she did with her collision to the ground.

Flame grimaced upon notice to this.

"Shit." Flame spoke. "Ember, stay here and watch Dawn."

Regardless of her worries, Ember nodded.

"Okay, be careful."

"And get Blade out of there please, Uncle Flame." Dawn pleaded in anxiety.

Another bomb issued on the roof of the temple as Flame took stunning notice to this and nodded.

"I will."

As Flame rushed towards Glacia's position past the many small debris created by the bombs, Hunter prepared his bow and arrow as Bianca noticed.

"Hunter, if you're going, I'm going too."

Hunter shook his head.

"No, I want you to stay here and protect everyone else, do you hear me?"

Silence, Bianca nodded as Hunter made his rush long after Flame towards Glacia's position while the others watched.

Glacia groaned in her wake from the effect of the blast before Flame eventually made it to her position and kneeled.

"Glace, you alright?" He asked as he grasped her left hand.

Glacia shook her head of the throbbing and spoke.

"Yeah, I'm fine. And now I'm ready to be pissed the hell off."

Regardless of her state, Flame helped her to her hind legs.

"Where's Blade?" Flame asked.

"He's inside the temple. I was going to go back for him as soon as I got everyone out."

"Well, you might as well go and get him out now, because—"

Before Flame could speak any further, two large armor-clad apes came from the air and got the jump on them from behind. Each was grasping both dragons around the neck with their right/left arm as the two dragons were almost in a choking fit from the strong hold.

"Flame, Glacia, duck!!"

It was Hunter. And Flame and Glacia wasted little time before both dragons issued elbow attacks to the midsection of the apes, which in turn relinquished their strong grips on them.

Afterwards, Flame and Glacia managed to escape the enemies' grasp by crouching down to the ground. And before the apes could anticipate what has happened, a single arrow, in one swift blur, was issued to the back of the first armor-clad ape's head and clean through his maw while blood splattered outwards from the injury.

Then, the bloodstained arrow resumed its approach to the maw of the second armored ape with the same result as the first, only it stayed in place of the injury before both apes fell on their backs motionless to the ground in puddles of their own blood.

Both Flame and Glacia observed themselves to find the apes' blood etched on them. But regardless, they looked at each other in surprise before they started standing up on their hind legs.

As they stood, Glacia looked over Flame's shoulder.

Flame took note of this and turned around to find Hunter, with his bow in his right hand, approached towards them.

"You guys alright?"

Flame nodded.

"Yeah. Nice shot."

Hunter issued a smug smirk on his face.

"Mmm, perks of being an archery." He said before issuing his attention to Glacia. "Where's Blade?"

"In the temple." She spoke.

"And the dreadwings are sending bombs to the roof." Flame said as Hunter nodded.

"Alright, come on. Let's get Blade out of the temple—"

Hunter didn't get much chance to speak any further before a few large sword-wielding armored apes has dropped down to the ground from each dreadwing creature and surrounded them in a wide circle.

Each was growling towards them in a hungrily manner as Hunter, Glacia, and Flame braced back against each other while keeping an eye on every one of them.

"—Before they show up." Hunter bitterly finished his response while keeping his expression of fear in check with strong determination.

"Nice timing, though." Flame spoke, determination etched on his face as well.

While they were surrounded and distracted, a number of small armored spear-gauntlet wielding apes, to the three dragon's unawareness, has made their way inside the temple to carry out their orders in search for the purple dragon.

* * *

Blade remained at his hidden spot visibly terrified as the muffled explosions echoed from outside the temple while the recent rumbling issued inside from the damage to the roof.

He thought about going out there to help, but was too frightened to do so.

Suddenly, a vision has struck the core of his mind.

'_I'll do it. I'm ready._'

Blade issued a sudden gasp from his maw upon that vision.

It was the dream.

He remembered saying those words to Spyro in his dream. But how can he defend the realms if he doesn't know how? Then, it dawned on him.

_'My training._' His thoughts spoke.

If the attack on the village was any indication of his dream coming true, then maybe his training was part of that vision as well. Then, he thought about the town folks, the guardians, his friend, Dawn, and his mother, which instantly prompt his anticipation.

Slowly, fear extinguished itself from his face and was replaced with strong determination. He has to save them and his mother. He has to try. He _must_ try.

Quickly, he made his way out of the basket and started towards the closed door.

He started to approach the nearby active panel at the lower left side, but halted when he saw shadows under the wedge of the door that passed the room by.

He thought about calling out to whoever was on the other side, but decided against it. For all he knew, the bad guys were probably inside.

Regardless, he approached the panel and placed his forepaw on there while the scan procedure issued.

Afterwards, the door opened and Blade started out the door before the small entourage of armored apes has spotted him from the right side of him.

Quickly, they aimed their arm-gauntlet at the young dragon and fired javelin spears in his direction.

Upon the wide sight of the speedy projectiles, a fearful gasp issued from the purple dragon's maw as he shut his eyes before time virtually slowed.

While the spears pierced the air around them during their approach, time quickly reverted to normal.

Suddenly, to the small armored apes' startle, the adamantium spikes on Blade's body, excluding the ones on his forearm, started extending before dividing into two. Then, as if they were rubber, they took on curve shapes from the left and right that engulfed the purple dragon's body into a protective dome-shaped shield that repelled the spears off to the side, impaling every one of them into the opposite direction of the sidewall.

The purple dragon grew oblivious to this as the spikes quickly retracted back to their original position before Blade slowly opened his eyes and frantically observed his bodily feature.

He was still alive. And upon that notice, he grew confused. _How?_

Straying from his thoughts, he looked to find that the small armored apes have shook from their own startling stupor moments ago and was advancing towards his position.

Slowly, Blade's expression grew of strong determination before he felt an amount of energy coursing through his body at each passing second.

It almost startled the purple dragon, yet he knew what this power is.

Before the small armored apes advanced any closer, Blade grinded his teeth and opened his maw.

Out of his maw came a howling flame attack that, upon contact, engulfed the armored apes in a blaze of flames.

As the apes screamed in pain and ran around upon the burning sensation, Blade took note that one was running towards his position in an attempt to attack before following suit.

But as the flaming ape lunged at the purple dragon, Blade evaded by rolling his body clockwise underneath the lunging creature.

After he regained himself, he instantly used his horns to knock another flaming ape in the air. Then, he leaped up, his wings supporting, and used his hind legs to throw a drop kick to the ape, who was hurled against another flaming ape before both were impaled by a single spike of a nearby statue on the lower side wall while blood splattered afterward from the injuries, staining their armors.

Blade landed, on all four, from a recent somersault upon that move and looked around to find that the other apes were burned to a crisp and motionless to their death.

Yet, Blade, who was panting, kept a steady posture before making his way to the entrance.

* * *

In the sky, Cyril managed to dismember a dreadwing of its head by use of the sword, blood splattering afterwards, before the corpse fell to its demise.

He was going to continue further before a loud screech of another dreadwing caught him off-guard from behind followed by a spear attack by the dreadwing's rider to his unprotected upper back, which issued a cry of pain from him as blood splattered from his injury.

Regardless of the pain, Cyril turned around and retaliated with a full-blown ice breath to the dreadwing creature, encasing it and the rider in ice shortly before eviscerating them to blood-splattering pieces with his sword.

Paying no heed to the dreadwing's blood splattered on his armor, Cyril reached and yanked the spear from his back while grunting in pain from the removal.

Throughout the scenery, the battle grew intense, graphic and furious as all three elders, including Ignitus despite his lack of armor and weaponry, each issued their own breath attack and combat skills to the enemies simultaneously taking in the recent harsh attacks – whether it's puncture wounds or lacerations -- from the opposing side of the battle.

But regardless of it all, they kept the air assault going for as long as possible in order to keep everyone safe.

Recently, the dreadwings issued bomb drops to the temple in order to put it to ruins, but despite the explosive assault, the half-crumbled temple stood still while the guardians momentarily took care of these bomb-droppers, preventing their efforts of destroying their home.

As the bloody air assault rages on, all four elders grew oblivious to the fact that they were being observed from a far distance.

* * *

Dargaul looked on to the battle and, to his dismay, it looked like he was on the verge of defeat. But a sadistic smile was plastered on his face as he looked down and signaled his large armored minions, whom were mounted on four vehicles that consist of huge prison cages on the back and a weapon that deploys harpoon arrows on the front, to commence the next phase of the attack.

With nods of response, the large armored apes commenced on the ordeal.

* * *

Meanwhile, Blade made it to the entrance to find a sight that issued his disgust and surprise.

On the ground, aside from the bloodied corpse of the deceased dreadwings due to the air assault, were two bloodied, yet motionless bodies of the large armored apes; both were soaked in their own heap of blood.

The other large three were also motionless in their own blood whether they were shot with a straight arrow to the midsection, burned to a flaming crisp with a severed armor, or harshly lacerated to the throat by their own weapon.

Then, he nearly flinched when he saw the sight of his mother impaling a large ape, who was momentarily convulsing upon the bloody laceration to the neck, to the midsection with its own weapon while blood followed afterwards, rendering him motionless.

The sight of the display nearly disgusted the purple dragon, but regardless, he was relieved that his mother, his uncle, and Hunter were still standing in one piece.

"Spiky!!" A voice called

Blade took a sharp right head turn to find the dragonfly, Sparx, flying towards his position with a panicked, yet worried expression on his face while his sparkling glow illuminated around the purple dragon.

"Spiky, you shouldn't be out here! You should be with us hiding!"

Silence issued from Blade and upon hearing those words, memories of his dream resurfaced in his mind.

'_I'll do it. I'm ready._' Blade's own words echoed through his thoughts.

Upon that reminder, the purple dragon's expression grew to one of stern determination.

"No." He spoke, sternly.

The comment took the dragonfly by surprise.

"No?"

"That's right. No! I'm done hiding!"

"But this place is going to Hell! Have you looked around you lately?!"

Silence issued from Blade while the constant wails of the battle issued in the sky before he eventually spoke.

"You know what, Sparx? I have. And I'm not liking it one bit."

"Blade!!" Glacia called upon sight of her son as Blade diverted his attention to her.

However, before she could dash over to him, two rider-less dreadwings landed on the ground on their left side and immediately issued loud screeches that were powerful enough to halt their advances, deafen their ears and submit them to the ground.

As the dreadwings kept to the attack, Glacia, Flame, and Hunter covered their ears and grinded their teeth in pain upon the loud sound attack as they were forcibly kneeled to the ground.

"MOM!!" The purple dragon shouted.

Blade grew horrified upon this sight as well as his dragonfly before the purple dragon issued a growl of anger from his maw while directing hateful glare to the dreadwing creatures, oblivious to the fact that the adamantium on his forearms were extending from curves to a horizontal position and was directed to the dreadwings.

Sparx took note of this with a measure of surprise.

"Whoa-ho, Spiky! What's—"

"LEAVE THEM ALONE!!" Blade screamed.

Suddenly, the silver spikes on his forearms issued a shimmering glow before two silver projectiles shot out from the purple dragon's forearms at a quick pace.

Almost instantly, the dreadwings were each impaled to the side of the head by these projectiles, which caused them to instantly halt their constant attacks as blood splattered from their injuries upon contact.

After the attack seized, Hunter, Glacia, and Flame fell to the ground unconscious.

As the dreadwings fell motionless to the ground with their blood spewing on the earthly soil, Blade, along with Sparx, momentarily grew stunned upon what had just transpired.

Instantly, Blade looked down and saw that the alloy on his forearms were back in their original position.

_'What the hell was that?_' His thoughts questioned.

His answer came in silence.

Yet, shook the thought off and wasted little before heading over, on all four, towards his mother's side.

As he got there, he started to wake her up, but to no avail. Sparx did likewise with Flame and Hunter by slapping them across the faces with his small hands. Yet, the results were the same.

"Sparx, check their heartbeats."

Sparx complied without question as he flew over and checked all three of their pulses. To his relief, they were still active.

Blade took note of this with anxiety.

"Well?"

"They're still alive, but unconscious."

Blade exhaled a breath of relief.

"Oh, thanks God."

"Blade!!" A voice called.

Blade looked over to the right side to find Ember, on hind legs, and Dawn, on all four, rushing past the fiery debris' towards their position with each expressions of worry on their face.

As soon as they got there, Ember kneeled down to her friends.

"Are they okay?" Ember asked while cradling Flame's head with her left hand and checking Glacia's heart pulse with her right.

"They're fine. Just unconscious." Blade confirmed.

"So what do we do now?" Sparx spoke. "We won't be able to carry them all back to the safe spot."

"Bianca! She can use her magic to revive them." Dawn suggested.

Ember nodded.

"Good idea."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the air, as the battle was coming to a near end, Ignitus issued a fireball attack to a single dreadwing, which was enough to set the creature ablaze and plummet down to its death.

"Ignitus!!" Terrador called.

Ignitus turned to Terrador's direction before snagging a sword, which was thrown to him, in his left hand while the earth guardian issued an earth breath attack to a dreadwing creature. Upon the attack, the creature strongly recoil in a stagger before Volteer followed by, with a vicious swing of his sword, decapitating the creature in half, blood splashing afterwards.

Ignitus twirled the sword in hand, and then turned counterclockwise and took a downward swing to an oncoming dreadwing, cutting the creature in half, blood splattering afterwards, while the two dismembered parts of the creature descended to the ground.

* * *

On the ground, while Bianca was nearly finish with the revival of her friends, Sparx looked over and noticed, with a hint of sheer disgust, the dismembered body parts of the dreadwing crashing to the ground at the far distance.

Instantly, Sparx covered his mouth to avoid a nauseated reaction to the sight.

"Ugh, dreadwings, blood, and internal organs, oh, my…"

* * *

Back in the air, the night sky was free of the dreadwings and their riders as Ignitus, while panting heavily, swallowed a bit of saliva.

'_That appears to be the last of them._' The fire guardian's thoughts spoke.

"Never sneak up on an opponent from behind." He spoke before turning around. "Terrad—"

Suddenly, Ignitus issued a grunt of pain, which forced him to subconsciously relinquished the handle on the earth guardian's sword.

The sword descended and impaled itself to the soil as Terrador and the other two guardians took note of this with gasping, horrified shock.

"No." Terrador spoke softly, his expression intact.

Silence issued around the sky as Ignitus, his breathing labored with his expression of pure shock, subconsciously looked down to find the bloody bolt of a harpoon arrow present at his midsection while the rest of the weaponry was through his body. Then, he slowly looked up to his fellow guardians.

However, before he could speak a word, he was yanked backward by the pull of the harpoon's connection cable towards a far distance.

* * *

On the ground, Bianca, who moments ago issued her magic to revive them, started carrying Hunter by the shoulder while Ember did likewise with both arms on Glacia and Flame with a little difficulty.

Right now, they started over to the laboratory where the entrance to the hatch was located with Blade and Dawn trailing behind while avoiding the carnage of the village.

By now, to the other's knowledge, everyone else in the lab was already underground.

"IGNITUS!!" A voice bellowed from the skies.

"Terrador?" Blade questioned as he, along with the others, quickly looked up to the sky to find, to their horror, that the fire guardian fell victim to a harpoon attack and was being yanked along by a connecting cable towards the other side of the far-off hills.

"Oh, my God. IGNITUS!!"

Instantly, Blade took off towards the hills with Sparx quickly trying to catch up.

"Blade, wait!" Dawn started before rushing behind.

Out of fear and anxiety, Glacia, Ember, Flame, Hunter, and Bianca called out to them, yet it grew on deaf ears due to their distance.

So, regardless of their condition, Glacia and Flame broke free from the pink dragoness' grasp and rushed over to catch up with them while Ember followed close behind.

Hunter started to follow as well, but not before telling Bianca to head back to the safe spot with the other villagers.

Bianca nodded, then issued a kiss to the cheetah's lips before rushing back for the laboratory.

* * *

In the air, the other three guardians made haste towards the other side of the hills where Ignitus was snagged.

But by the time that they got there, they saw that the helpless fire guardian was quickly bounded to a crucifix in a single cage next to four other cages, the last one being without a crucifix. The harpoon was absent from the fire guardian's midsection, as the fire guardian's lifeblood freely drains from the injury.

Then, to their sheer anger, they saw the large number of armed armored apes guarding these prison cages and a few rider-mounted dreadwings in the sky.

Then, they heard clapping in the distance before slowly diverting their attention to a shocking sight that they thought that they would never bare to see again.

"You." Terrador spoke in a dark manner.

"Yes, me."

Then, the powerful screech of two dreadwings was issued in the guardian's direction.

* * *

Meanwhile, Blade, while panting heavily, kept to his running pace, tumbling on the ground along the way, as he hurried towards the hills despite his name being called from behind.

During his run, he momentarily saw the other three elders head to the direction of the hills before coming out of his eyesight and hearing two loud screeches.

As soon as he and Sparx eventually got to the hills, Dawn behind them shortly after, both dragons' expression grew of shock -- their eye-pupils shrunk -- upon the sight that they saw.

Down the long, steep hill, there were a few prison cages that were composed of strong wood; four of them each withheld the four unconscious elder guardians bounded to crucifixes.

Strong cables were attached from four dreadwings' hind legs and the four cages while four large armor-clad apes were each mounted on these creatures.

Blade, his expression intact, looked to each elder dragon and found that only Ignitus suffered a punctured wound to his midsection by the harpoon while the others were unconscious, which gave the purple dragon the knowledge that the dreadwings were held responsible for that upon using their screech attacks.

Instantly, the dreadwings took to the air with their captives with slight difficulties before a huge portal issued in the atmosphere.

"IGNITUS!!" Blade screamed in terror.

In the air, Dargaul, upon the screaming voice, sharply took a look behind them from a far distance as his minions entered the open portal.

His face cringed with anger upon seeing the purple dragon on top of the hills.

'_Such incompetent._' His thoughts spoke in reference to the few small armored minions he recently sent to apprehend the purple dragon. It appears that they didn't get the job done.

Yet, an evil chuckle escaped his maw upon noticing the fear in the little dragon's eyes.

'_That's right, be afraid, little one because I am coming for you._' His thoughts spoke.

But he didn't get much of a chance before an echoed voice called him out of nowhere and halting his advances.

Before he could survey the area for the source of the voice, an illusionary image of Flaron's head appeared right in front of him with a stern expression on his face.

"_Dargaul, excellent work. Now for your next objective._"

Suddenly, a large basket of multiple yellow crystallized items appeared.

The dragon hunter's expression grew of confusion before Flaron spoke.

"Toss the basket in the air. Momentarily, the crystals will fall and rain upon sections of the land, starting with this village, draining energy from anything and anyone it touches. When the task is done, you'll receive more crystals for the other realms."

Regardless of his expression, Dargaul nodded before the illusionary image disappeared.

On the ground, Blade and Dawn, along with Sparx, has made it to the clearing at the bottom of the steep hill as they looked up towards the dragon hunter's position.

Blade and Dawn's expression grew hardened with hatred toward the hunter upon his actions.

"Whoever you are, you give us back Ignitus and the others!!" Blade demanded.

Dargaul, who momentarily grasped a hold of the basket of crystal, issued an evil chuckle from his maw, but his expression instantly grew of confusion upon the purple dragon's words.

But regardless, his expression slowly grew stern with hatred.

_'Perhaps death and resurrection has diverted his memories. No matter. I will deal with him shortly._' His thoughts spoke. '_You may have forgotten about me, purple dragon, but I have not forgotten about you._'

Then, as he strayed from his thoughts, his attention was suddenly diverted to the top of the hill.

His expression loosened upon seeing the familiar face of the ice dragoness along with a few of her friends.

Glacia's expression grew of gasping shock and disbelief upon the sight of the hunter that claimed the lives of many and the life of one dragon that she loved.

"You." Her voice softly whimpered before an image suddenly appeared at the fabric of her mind.

A memory of the torturous injuries that she had to endure at the hands of this hunter's minions thirteen years ago during her capture.

Dargaul's eyes narrowed to a glare, yet an evil smile masked his face.

"You."

Regardless of their previous expressions towards the hunter, Blade, Dawn, and Sparx's confusion were visibly piqued.

"Uh, Spiky? Who is this guy anyway?" Sparx asked.

Blade slowly shook his head.

"I have no idea, but…"

Blade trailed off for a minute in his thoughts before resuming.

"For some reason, it almost feels like I've known him before."

Both Dawn and Sparx slowly looked to Blade strangely before the malicious voice of Dargaul has caught their attention.

"How pleasant for all of you to present yourselves. Sadly, I have to depart from your lovely village. And upon that note, allow me to provide you with a _deathly_ gift."

Instantly, he tossed the large basket of crystals in the air as those that were present looked on with intent.

The basket was soared in the dark skies until it disappeared from sight. Then, a single glint in the sky issued before crystallized spikes rained down from the skies.

With an evil chuckle, Dargaul entered the portal, which closed after entrance, before the numerous stalactiform of small crystals started making contact with sections of the earth.

Upon contact, the crystals, to the other's notice, started pulsating before gathering the life energy from the land as the rain of crystals resumed.

Many were headed to Blade and Dawn's position as Glacia, with a gasp of fright, took note of this.

"Blade!!" She shouted to him.

But Blade and Dawn, at the last moment, managed to dodge from the incoming stalactites while Hunter, Flame, Ember, and Glacia managed to take cover behind a huge boulder.

Glacia looked down to where her son and Dawn were positioned to find that they were dodging the stalactiform of crystals as quickly as possible.

But it won't be long before it eventually comes in contact with them.

Quickly, Glacia got up and, with her wings spread out, took to the mid-skies towards Blade and Dawn's position.

Flame and the others took notice and inched over from the boulder a little.

"Glacia, be careful!!" He shouted after her.

Suddenly, upon that mistake, a small stalactiform impaled itself onto his right upper hind leg.

"AAH!!" Flame screamed in agonizing pain while resisting the urge to pull the spike loose from his injury.

"Flame!!" Ember shouted out of fear as she rushed to him, simultaneously avoiding the impact of the raining crystals.

Hunter followed suit and when they got to him, they pulled him back under the protective boulder and saw that the pulsating, bloodstained crystal was embedded into the muscle section of his hind leg.

As Flame breathed heavily, his lifeblood gushed from the injury as Ember desperately attempted to remove the crystal spike from him.

"N-No, No!! E-Ember, don't!!" Flame managed to shout before grunting from the rising, yet excruciating pain. "Ah, God-fucking-damn it!!"

* * *

Meanwhile, at the exact same moment, Glacia, who was still in flight, managed to snag Blade and Dawn in her embrace simultaneously dodging and evading the shards of raining crystals as she landed near the edge of a cliff on her hind legs.

Afterwards, she placed both Blade and Dawn down onto the ground as the three dragons looked behind them to find that the crystals were still raining upon the land, yet, judging by the speed, it wouldn't be long before the energy-draining crystals reach their position.

And upon that knowledge, Glacia mentally came up with a dreadful solution.

Mentally, she struggled trying to find a better way out of this, but there was none. If she took flight with Blade and Dawn in her grasp, there is a chance that they wouldn't make it to the hatch in time.

And even if they did survive it, they wouldn't get pretty far to the hatch due to the fact that these crystals would drain any life out of anyone that goes near it.

There was no other choice. She has to do it.

* * *

Meanwhile…

"Flame, you're losing a lot of blood!! I have to—" Ember started out of anxiety.

"If you—If you touch it, it will drain you!!" Flame spoke while breathing heavily from the constant pain. "Do NOT touch it!!"

A couple of stalactiforms ricocheted or shattered off the strong boulder as Hunter and Ember, minus the injured Flame, cowered upon the noise.

"We need to get him back to the hatch! We can't stay out here!" Hunter suggested.

"What about Glacia, Blade, and Dawn?!" Ember spoke out of anxiety for not only Dawn's safety, but for Glacia and Blade as well.

Silence, Hunter, with an expression of dread, looked over to the direction to where Glacia was headed, but lost sight of her, Blade, and Dawn due to the distance.

"Wherever they are, Glacia knows her way to the hatch!"

"But what if she doesn't make it?" Ember asked while struggling to hold back the tears in her eyes.

Silence, Hunter's expression slowly grew solemn while his eyes were downcast.

"Then, with these crystals out here, there's nothing we can do."

Ember didn't get much of a chance to react before, to her startle, another round of crystals ricocheted off the boulder.

"Come on, let's go!" The archer spoke.

Hunter wasted little time in carrying the wounded orange dragon while Flame wailed in pain from the move.

Afterwards, the three started back towards the laboratory where the hatch door was located while constantly dodging the multiple small stalactiforms raining from the sky.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the cliff…

"You want us to WHAT?!" Sparx asked, while straining on his last comment upon a suggestion that Glacia has came upon.

"I want you to jump!" She responded, mostly to Blade and Dawn than to Sparx.

Fear and worry once again consumed the purple dragon's face.

"B-But I can't fly yet."

Glacia shook her head.

"Don't worry, the water's current will break your fall."

"But what about you?" Dawn asked.

"Don't worry about me. Now jump, please! It's not safe out here!"

Blade shook his head in protest while keeping his tears at bay.

"No! I'm leaving you."

"Blade…" She spoke with desperate sternness.

"NO, MOM, I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU!!" Blade bellowed while tears forcefully streamed his eyes.

Glacia, Dawn, and Sparx were taken aback by Blade's emotional outburst as the purple dragon's tears fell from his eyes while his head hung.

Glacia took note of this, yet she understood the reason for this reaction. He was afraid that he would lose his friends and the only mother that he has. He was afraid of being alone.

With a sigh from her breath, the ice dragon slowly kneeled down to her son's length and placed her right hand under Blade's chin, slowly diverting the purple dragon's teary gaze to her comforting eyes.

"Blade…" She spoke softly. "It's okay to be afraid. But you don't have to be afraid of anything, because you are my son. You will never be alone. You understand? You will _never_ be alone."

Those words brought great comfort to Blade, yet the tears remained.

"Will you come back for me?" He asked, softly

Glacia grew silence for a moment, but before she could speak, she grunted in pain while, to Blade and Dawn's gasping startle, blood splattered from her chest and staining the bodies of the two young dragons.

Blade, Dawn, and Sparx looked upon the display in horrified shock as Glacia, with a slight grunt, subconsciously looked down to find the long energy-draining crystal pierced through the left side of her abdominal area.

As her breathing labored, Glacia, fear and worry apparent in her face, looked to the two young dragons in front of her while strongly trying to keep herself conscious from the injury.

"Mom? Mom?!" Blade desperately shouted out of anxiety and fear.

"G-Go. J-Jump." She managed to speak as blood was nearly leaking from her mouth.

But before Blade could strongly protest on the idea, a sharp stalactiform made its impact right in front of Blade and Dawn.

The harsh impact of the crystal detached the edge of the cliff, which forced both Blade and Dawn to fall.

"MOOOOOOM!!" Blade's voice screamed in agony during the fall as it echoed to the skies shortly before the purple dragon's head was bashed on a sharp cliff rock to Dawn's noticed with a hint of strong anxiety.

"Blade!!" She shrieked.

On the cliff, Glacia, despite her harsh injury and her slowly depleting energy by the impaling crystal, managed to crawl weakly towards the edge and looked down towards the ocean with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes.

"I love you, my son." She spoke softly before her body gave out into a motionless state.

As their fall resumed, Dawn constantly started calling the purple dragon's name, yet no response was issued from him. Even Sparx tried to snap Blade from his unconscious slumber, but was issued the same results.

Looking down, to Dawn and Sparx's shock, they saw that they were closing in on the ocean, yet the surface of the cliff was still visible at this time.

_'Oh, no._' Her thoughts dreaded with worry.

"Can you fly?!" Sparx asked.

"No!" She shouted, her expression of worry intact.

And she had reasons to worry. She didn't know how to fly as well and neither does Blade. For that reason, she shut her eyes and awaited her end.

But no impact was issued. Slowly, she opened her eyes and found that, to her confusion, they were in the air flying through the night skies while the wind flows over their bodies.

'_What the…_'

As she looked up, she saw that Blade was the one that was in flight with her in his grasp. But, to her shock, he was still unconscious with a bloody gash on his head from the impact of the sharp rock.

Mentally, she, including Sparx, questioned how that was possible, yet passed that thought off for the time being. They were safe, at least for now.

* * *

A/N: _**Phew! Oh, my…all the violence, all that bloody, graphic intense violence! My God, that's long!! Over 8740+ words! Even better than the 6000 I had for 'Together.' Honestly, you have no idea how long I had to prepare, edit, and re-edit this thing. But heck, it was worse it. And yes, I told you it would be tragic. But the question remains: What will happen next? Is Glacia truly dead? Will Flame be okay as well as the others? And what of the elders?! You know what? I better stop rambling! Until next chap! Ciao!**_

_Next Chap_: _**Another spiritual entity issues Blade his next training.**_


	11. Test of Ice and Flight

Chapter Ten: **Test of Ice and Flight

* * *

**

As night darkened the sky and the moonlight shrouded by clouds, Dawn, Sparx, and the unconscious form of Blade were still in flight in the skies.

Mentally, Dawn thought about waking the purple dragon from his unconscious state, but thought otherwise and left the issue alone. Recently, she took this display into thought and was still in disbelief at what she is witnessing.

_How is Blade able to take flight in his state when he doesn't know how?_

The answer grew in silence to the female dragoness, yet she brushed the thought off in hopes to come to terms with it later.

It has been at least hours since they have been in the skies, but regardless, the flight resumed.

* * *

The underground safety tunnel, lit by many torches, was littered with chattering/panicking town folks, fairies, and dragons—males or females--alike.

Professor Steintail and his team of inventors were among the crowd as well. Their replaceable scientific items, technologies, and inventories were stationed in a fitting secondary laboratory that the team of inventors has managed to build years ago for these types of emergency situations.

Also, a fitting nursery, which was also built by the inventors from years past, was next to the laboratory to accompany the dragon doctors, nurses and the dormant dragon eggs as well.

At the moment, Steintail and his teams were trying to ease the calm of everyone inside, especially the town folks as Bianca was tending to a severely injured orange dragon by the name of Flame with Ember by his side.

It has been a few hours since they have made it underground with some difficulties as the results of the energy-draining crystals. But regardless of their short depleted energy, they managed to make it through.

At the moment, Bianca was trying to stop the constant bleeding by use of her magic wand, but grew difficult due to the long, spike-shaped pulsating stalactiform lodged into the orange dragon's hind leg.

With a worried expression on her face, Ember kept watch over him as she braced his hand with hers as a sign of comfort.

Flame, who was breathing heavily and grunting occasionally from the pain, tried desperately to stay conscious from the blood loss.

Recently, she got into a strong verbal, emotional dispute with Hunter over leaving Glacia, Blade, and especially Dawn behind outside in the middle of the chaos before Bianca was able to calm her down.

But the more that she thought about it, the more that Hunter was right on the subject. With those many energy-draining crystals outside, whether the rain has stopped or not, Glacia, Blade, and Dawn wouldn't be able to make it back.

It was a losing battle either way and it brought tears to the pink dragoness' face upon that fact.

Flame took note of this, but he didn't try to speak a word due to his injury. Yet, he managed to read Ember's eyes like a book. He could tell that she feared for Dawn, Blade, and Glacia's safety as well as his own.

As a sign of comfort, he squeezed Ember's hand as she managed a smile, yet the thoughts of Dawn, Blade, and Glacia littered her memories.

After a while of trying, Bianca, to Ember and Flame's notice, halted from her magic and shook her head.

"It's no use. My magic's not strong enough to dislodge this thing or stop the bleeding."

"Look out."

Ember, Flame, and Bianca looked to find Hunter approaching with a glove on his left paw.

He kneeled by the orange dragon's side and, to Flame, Ember, and Bianca's shock, attempted to reach for the stalactiform.

"H-Hunter, what are you—" Flame managed to speak, but halted as Hunter got his gloved paw on the stalactiform.

To their surprise, the crystal was still pulsating, yet it didn't perform an attempt on depleting the archery of his energy.

Hunter showed little expression to this before quickly yanking the crystal from the orange dragon's hind leg while blood followed suit from the removal.

"AAH!!" Flame screamed in pain before Ember managed to cover his mouth, which, as a result, muffled his scream.

Everyone else in the tunnel took note of this, yet none said a word as Hunter, with the spike-shaped crystal in his gloved hand, gave Bianca a cloth before instructing her to patch the wound.

Bianca complied as she did the ordeal while Hunter made his leave toward the laboratory with the pulsating item in hand.

As a result of the patch, Flame, with Ember's hand still in place over his mouth, issued another muffled scream from the rising pain.

After she was done, Ember relinquished her hand from Flame's mouth, as the orange dragon was breathing heavily and occasionally swallowing saliva from the pain.

Momentarily, Hunter made his return to check up on him.

"You alright, Flame?" Hunter asked.

While breathing heavily and strongly grimacing from the pain, Flame issued a glare to Hunter due to that removal and spoke.

"What the fuck do you think?"

Regardless of the obscene question, Hunter nodded as Ember embraced her lover while Flame did likewise in return.

During the embrace, Flame felt the wet tears of his lover on his shoulder as he relinquished the hold on her before looking into her teary eyes and her smiling face of relief.

"My God, I thought I would lose you."

Swallowing a bit of saliva, Flame shook his head and spoke.

"You're never gonna lose me, you understand? Never!"

Then, a cocky smile issued on his face.

"Because believe me, it'll take more than a goddamn stalactiform to put me down."

Regardless of her state, she issued a snicker from her breath as Flame, with a smile, caressed his comforting left hand to her right cheek.

The touch managed to calm the pink dragoness down a bit.

"Hey, we will get Dawn back. You hear me? She is like a daughter to both of us and we will have her back. I have enough faith to believe that Glacia, Blade, and Sparx will protect her. Now I don't know if those gloves that Hunter was wearing will work to get those other crystals out of the village lands, but somehow, they will find a way to deal with those crystals and get back to us."

Ember managed to ease her stature as she sniffed up the tears from her face.

"Okay?"

Ember nodded in response before issuing a hug to Flame while he embraced her in return.

"I pray and hope that the ancestors would return her to us safely." Ember softly spoke while silently sobbing her eyes out at the same time, Flame provided comfort to her.

"Me, too." He said.

* * *

In the mist of the skies, Dawn was still in the embrace of the unconscious purple dragon as the flight resumed with Sparx close by at the side.

Occasionally, blood would drip from the head injury of the purple dragon without anyone's notice, but regardless, the flight continued.

_'I love you, my son.'_ A female voice echoed.

Suddenly, a flood of images issued inside the unconscious mind of the purple dragon: _The attack on the village, the elders' capture, and his mother_.

Then, a void of darkness and silence settled in.

'_Mother_.' Blade's inner thoughts spoke.

Then, suddenly, the memory of what happened with his mother on that cliff has abruptly littered the purple dragon's mind. He remembered the stalactiform piercing through the left side of her abdominal area and her blood smearing both him and Dawn, including the horrifying, yet shocking expression they displayed upon that incident.

'_I love you, my son._' The ice dragoness' voice echoed throughout."_Mom? Mom?!_" His desperate voice echoed out of anxiety and fear.

Then, he remembered the expression of fear and worry on her face as the blood slightly relinquished from her mouth.  
_  
_"_G-Go. J-Jump._"

Then, he remembered a sharp stalactiform that made its impact right in front of him and Dawn; his mother being on the opposite side of it.

"_NO, MOM, I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU!!_"

Then, he remembered the fall that drove them tragically apart.  
_  
_'_I love you, my son._'

"_MOOOOM!!_"

In an instant, Blade, to Dawn and Sparx's startling notice, awoke with a terrifying scream. And before anyone else could react, the purple dragon lost his balance of flight, which resulted in both dragons descending from the sky.

As Sparx caught up with them during their descent, Blade and Dawn started screaming at the top of their lungs throughout the fall.

The ocean was coming into view as both dragons halted their screams and noticed, yet had little time to react before a large violent splash issued upon contact with the ocean.

* * *

**Silence. **

'_**I love you, my son.'**_

**'**_**Mom.**_**' His thoughts spoke softly.**

**'Blade?' A soft female voice entered his thoughts.**

**As the current of the ocean washed ashore in the cold of the night, the young purple dragon was positioned on the sandy, clearing shore of an island muttering softly in his subconscious state oblivious to the fact that a silhouette was looming over him.**

**"Blade." She spoke again, as the purple dragon slightly stirred, yet his position and condition was the same.**

**The mysterious silhouette used a forepaw to nudge the purple dragon and, almost instantly, Blade awoke with a frightful yelp as he scrambled on all four and frantically surveyed his surroundings without acknowledgment towards the silhouette.**

**He was on an ocean's shore where sand littered under his feet—including his paws--and batches of trees, bushes and many types of vegetation were nearby. Ironically, he was on an island.**

**Then, the cold breeze surrounded his body as he shivered from the coldness with his eyes shut tight and head hung.**

"**Do you need any help?" A voice spoke, with a hint of maturity.**

**"Dawn?" He assumed.**

**Regardless of his state, Blade looked up and didn't see Dawn. Instead, he saw, to his confusion, a young female black dragon, that was his age and was on all four, approaching towards him with an expression of concern on her face.**

**To his surprise, this dragon almost took the similarity of his mother had it not been for the extra horns on sections of her body like her wings and cheeks.**

**Mentally, Blade thought that this dragon was Dawn due to the earlier comment, but it wasn't.**

**"Huh?" He spoke.**

**The black dragon took note of his shivering state and, instead of repeating her question, started to approach him as Blade almost felt an amount of fear reach his bodily being upon this action, yet he eased himself as the black dragoness issued a left wing to his back in order to provide him comfort.**

**The comforting touch was enough to ease him a bit from the cold, but not completely as Blade, with the expression of surprise intact, looked to the black dragoness with a hint of curiosity.**

"**Who are you?" He asked, while slightly shivering from the cold.**

**Silence.**

"**My name is Cynder." She spoke.**

**"You…" He started, but halted himself in silence.**

**Blade almost grew confused upon that name, but then, to his shock, came into thought of the statues that he saw earlier and the names that he read and recognized outside of the temple.**

**"C-Cynder? You're Cynder?"**

**The black dragoness known as Cynder smiled and nodded in response as Blade diverted his gaze forward in wonder to what was happening at the moment before speaking.**

**"Uh, am I-am I dreaming?" He asked.**

**Cynder nodded as she got herself positioned in front of Blade.**

"**You could say that. You took a nasty fall to the ocean, though, which is partially the reason for the cold. Regardless, you, Dawn, and Sparx are fine."**

**Upon mention of those names, anxiety and fear issued from Blade's own being as Cynder took note of this with concern.**

"**They are? W-where are they?"**

"**They've washed ashore along with you. They're okay." She spoke softly, yet Blade, although briefly silence, couldn't compose his worries or tears as thoughts of his mother began littering his memories.**

"**What about my mom?"**

"**Blade…" She started softly as she slowly approached towards him until she was inches to the purple dragon's face before Blade resumed out of anxiety.**

"**Please tell me where my mom is, please." He pleaded with a whimper.**

**"Blade…"**

**"Please,** **_please_, tell me she's not dead."**

"**Blade, calm down, okay? She's not dead, she's alive."**

**Almost instantly, Blade's eyes widened upon that comment.**

**"What?" He spoke softly.**

**"She's alive."**

**Silence issued from the purple dragon upon that news, but he shook his head with a hint of doubt to her words due to what he has witnessed earlier on the cliff.**

**"No." He spoke softly. "No, you can't possibly know that, because—"**

"**Blade…" Cynder softly intervened. "Your mother's alive. Look."**

**As Cynder looked to her left side, Blade followed her example before an expression of shock was plastered on his face. **

**There, as if he was staring down from the heavens, he could see his mother unconscious and shackled on all parts of her body in an abandoned area of a room.**

**As Blade watched, he saw that his mother was slightly stirring from her unconscious state. Then, he saw that the injury that she sustained by the stalactiform earlier was healed somehow, which issued his confusion.**

**Why would they capture her and then keep her alive? Silence was the answer to his thoughts.**

**Regardless, he was relieved to find that his mother was still alive. But then another issue came to the purple dragon's worried mind as well as he directed his gaze to Cynder.**

"**What about the elders?" He asked as the image faded.**

"**They are in the same predicament as well."**

"**Wh-Who are these guys? And what are they planning to do with my family?" He asked out of desperation.**

**"Blade, calm yourself."**

"**NO!" He shouted, yet, regardless of his emotional outburst, Cynder kept her steady composure as the purple dragon cringed his eyes shut and hung his head before guilty tears were forcibly relinquished from his eyes. "This is all my fault."**

"**Blade…" Cynder spoke upon noticing where the issue was going, but Blade resumed.**

**"I-I was told that something like this was going to happen and I ignored it. I—" He halted as he softly sobbed his tears out.**

**Upon notice to this, Cynder grew sympathetic towards him. **

"**Like Ignitus said: You had no way of knowing about this at all." Cynder spoke as Blade issued his teary gaze to her. "You are not at fault."**

**Silence, Blade once again felt comforted by those words as he sniffed up his tears and nodded before Cynder issued a loving smile to her face.**

**"Come on. Let's get you started." She said as she waltzed pass the purple dragon, who, after composing himself, looked after her with a hint of confusion on his face.**

**"Started on what?" He asked as he followed behind her towards the ocean.**

**Silence, Cynder halted her stop in front of the ocean as Blade did the same, yet the confusion was still masked on his face and was directed at the black dragoness.**

**"Your next challenge." She said as her stern gaze droned to the ocean.**

**Silence, Blade diverted his gaze to the ocean and nodded with a hint of determination on his facial feature due to memories of his earlier dream.**

**"So what's my next test?" He asked.**

**With a stern expression intact, Cynder grew silence before, to Blade's notice, a single target object emerged far across from the ocean.**

**Blade slightly creased his left brow upon that scenery.**

"**I want you to fire an ice blast to that target." She instructed as Blade grew a bit confused by the instruction.**

**"An ice blast?"**

**Cynder nodded before diverting her gaze to the purple dragon.**

**"Yeah." She said before taking note of his expression. "Something wrong?"**

**Blade shook his head.**

"**N-No, it's just—" He halted before diverting his gaze to her. "How am I going to use an ice blast when the only thing that I can accomplish right now is fire?"**

**Silence, Cynder issued a chuckle from her maw.**

**"You'd be surprised what a rare breed of purple dragons can do."**

**Blade scoffed.**

"**Actually, I already am surprised. So what's the trick?"**

"**The trick is similar to that of fire. All it takes is energy. Feel the breeze, feel the cold."**

Silence, Blade issued a slight nod of comprehension before diverting his gaze to the ocean where the target object originated in.

**The strong wave current was issuing around the target, yet Blade could still be able to see it.**

**Cynder didn't bother with the demonstration on this technique since Blade was issued a first experience from his previous dream. So he was familiar with what he has to do.**

**As Cynder watched, Blade got into position while thinking back on what he learned in his previous dream.**

'**_You have to channel that type of energy in order to unleash it._' Spyro's words echoed in the purple dragon's mind.**

**Afterwards, he slowly closed his eyes while coming into focus in order to channel the recommended energy.__**

'**_Focus._' Blade's thoughts spoke.**

**As the cool breeze whizzed around his bodily form, Blade could feel a cool, freezing energy issuing from inside his body. **

**This type of energy startled the young purple dragon due to the cold sensation, yet it didn't deter him from his focus.**

'**_Feel the breeze_.' His thoughts spoke as the breeze of cold air intensified over his body.**

**Then, slowly, he opened his pupil eyes, which took on the shine of icy blue. **

'_**Feel the cold**_**.'**

**Then, he opened his maw. Out of his maw came a burst of ice that soared at a fast pace directly towards the target.**

**As the icy projectile made contact, the target grew frozen solid, shattering to millions of small pieces afterwards.**

**Blade grew stunned upon that outcome as Cynder snickered.**

"**Cool shot." She spoke.**

"**Huh. You can say that again."**

**Cynder chuckled before issuing Blade the second part of this test: _The Ice Spikes_****.**

**The purple dragon assumed that this technique would be easy, but it wasn't upon learning of the fact that this sort of attack takes a certain amount of energy to perform. It was something that young Blade was also familiar with.**

**Regardless, he nodded in response as Cynder stepped aside while Blade took position.**

**At the same time, four to five target objects emerged across from the ocean as Blade took note of this with a creased left brow.**

"**Five targets?" He spoke before diverting his gaze to Cynder, who noticed and provided a snicker from her maw. "Really?"**

**Cynder nodded.**

"**Really. Go ahead and give it a shot. Well, five shots, but be careful."**

**Blade nodded in response as he diverted his gaze towards his targets.**

**As he stood there with his droned gaze to the targets, his mind drifted back to his previous dream.**

'**_The trick of this attack is pretty much the same as the first one, but it would require a considerable amount of energy to unleash it_.' Spyro's voice echoed in his mind.**

**If this was any indication to what happened in his previous dream, then Blade knows what he has to do.**

**With an expression of determination etched on his face, Blade lowered his body to a deep crouch while concentrating on channeling the recommended energy.**

**The few vain attempts lead to frustration at this point, but regardless, he issued an amount of calm before resuming his focus.**

**Suddenly, he felt an aura of cold energy surrounding his bodily form. The power intensified at each passing second. But Blade grew startled as the freezing energy reached its extent, which was enough to break him from his focus.**

**As he was breathing heavily, Cynder spoke.**

"**You okay?"**

**"I couldn't hold it." He said, while breathing with his face downward as he swallowed a bit of saliva and resumed. "That felt like it was three times as powerful."**

**Cynder nodded.**

"**It's like I said."**

**Blade nodded.**

**"I know. I know."**

**Regardless of his state, Blade, after a couple of seconds of straightening up, tried the same procedure again. As before, the aura of ice surrounded his body and increased with each passing second.**

Only this time, he struggled with this powerful freezing sensation in hopes to not break his focus.

**As soon as the power reached its extent, Blade opened his maw. Out of his maw came a long, extended ice-cold toothpick-like stalactite.**

**During the icy projectile's soaring approach, it, as time virtually slowed, soon broke off into five small stalactites before, as time reverted to normal, making contact with its targets, resulting the same shattering damage as with the ice blast target.**

**Once again, Blade, despite his heavy ice-cold breathing, grew stunned upon the outcome as Cynder, with a proud smile on her face, nodded.**

"**Now that's chilling." She complimented.**

"**Holy crap. That was…cool."**

**Cynder chuckled.**

**"Cool, indeed. Now let's resume with the third part of this test."**

**Regardless of his state, Blade nodded with his gaze to the ocean.**

**"Okay. W-What is it?"**

**With her gaze droned to the ocean, Cynder spoke while gesturing her head to the far-off direction.**

"**You see that tall cliff on the far right side?"**

**Blade looked in that direction to see a tall cliff up to his right where a shore is visibly seen nearby.**

**"Yeah." He answered.**

**"I want you to cross this ocean in that direction to a shore near that cliff. You will find me there waiting." **

**"Waiting? Wh—" The purple dragon started out of confusion.**

**But Blade's words grew in stammers before Cynder, to his notice, spreads her wings, issued two steps forward, leaped and took flight towards the far cliff area.**

**"Hey!" He called out, but, to his dismay, was beyond earshot of her.**

**Afterwards, he looked to the splashing currents of the ocean before issuing a sigh from his maw.**

**"Great." He spoke to himself. "How in the hell am I going to get across this ocean when—"**

**He halted upon a sudden thought.**

**"Wait a minute. What if—" **

**Instead of speaking any further on this theory, he decided to use his newfound ice blast technique on the ocean current. And, as he suspected, an ice platform surfaced from the ocean.**

**With a smile of satisfaction etched on his face, Blade hopped onto the icy platform. The platform started swaying in the ocean upon contact, but the purple dragon managed to subdue his balance before performing the same procedure in his attempt to reach the next shore.**

**Throughout the way, Blade nearly slipped off a platform due to the strong wind current, but once again, he managed to subdue his balance as he kept with the task.**

**Eventually, he made it to the shore on all four as he looked up to the nearby cliff to find the black dragoness posted there.**

**Wasting little time, he, while panting heavily, made haste to that area.**

**As soon as he got to the top, he slowed his pace to catch his breath as Cynder turned and took note of his state with a humorous smile.**

**"You okay?"**

**Despite his worn-out condition, Blade issued a snicker from his maw and swallowed a bit of saliva and spoke.**

**"Oh, yeah, no, I'm fine." He jestered. "I mean, it's nothing like hopping ice platforms and making your occasional run up a cliff to start your day."**

**Cynder snickered upon the jester.**

**"Okay, I'll give you time to catch your breath. Then, we'll get your started on the final test."**

**Blade nodded as he perched, further from the edge, on the ground for a while to relax a bit while Cynder turned around and looked up towards the sky.**

**During his relaxation, Blade's thoughts droned to his mother and the elders, which prompted his worried expression.**

**But once again, guilt was plastered on his face upon memories of his futile attempt to save, not only the elders, but his mother as well. But Cynder's words told him otherwise.**

**They are captured, but safe for the time being until he could figure a way to rescue them. After all, he made a commitment: No giving up, and definitely no running away. He has to try. He **_**must**_**.**

**"You okay now?" A voice spoke.**

**In startle, Blade flinched, but eased his composure in a measure of calm when he saw that it was Cynder perched right next to him.**

**"Y-Weren't you over there at the edge?" He asked.**

**With her gaze and good-natured smile fixed on him, Cynder nodded.**

**"Yeah."**

**"And, in reference to how you were able to get from that cliff's edge over to me, I'm guessing that's your little secret too, huh?"**

**Cynder nodded.**

**"Mmm, something like that, yeah."**

**Blade nodded while diverting his gaze forward. **

"**Mm-hmm."**

"**So are you ready?"**

**Silence, Blade took a deep breath before nodding in response.**

**"Follow me."**

**As Cynder got up and took a head start towards the edge of the cliff, Blade followed suit from behind. **

**As they got there, Blade looked down to the ocean with an expression of dread on his facial feature.**

"**Listen, if this final test involves swimming, I don't think I'll be able to go for another violent dive. I might drown."**

**Cynder shook his head. **

"**If the challenge is performed correctly, then no diving or swimming involved. As for drowning, although it's common for you to be afraid of that, you really shouldn't."**

"**Why?" He asked while his gaze was still fixed on the ocean's current.**

**"Us dragons don't drown. We're immune to those effects."**

**Silence, Blade issued his perplexed gaze to Cynder, who issued her gaze to him in return.**

**"Seriously?"**

**Cynder nodded.**

**"Yeah."**

**"So what's the next challenge?"**

**"Flight." She spoke.**

**Silence, Blade grew nerved by the comment.**

"**Flight? Y-you mean fly?"**

**Cynder nodded in response. **

"**B-But I can't fly. I don't even know how."**

**Silence issued from Cynder before she spoke. **

"**Let me ask you something, Blade: Do you remember anything after being unconscious?"**

**Silence.**

**"What, besides the attack on the village, the elders' capture, and my mother being left for dead, but somewhat alive in the midst of our tragic departure, no, not recently." Blade inadvertedly spoke out of anger, due to abrupt memories of that event.**

**Yet, he managed to calm his composure before speaking.**

**"Sorry." He apologized, softly.**

**"It's okay." She spoke softly, her expression comprehended to his outburst. "So you don't remember anything?"**

**Blade shook his head.**

"**No. Like I said, I was unconscious. All I remember at that moment was my head making contact with a spike rock on the cliff."**

**Cynder nodded in comprehension.**

**"I see. So you don't remember flying in the air with Dawn and Sparx?"**

**Almost instantly, Blade did a double take while issuing his confused expression towards Cynder upon her comment.**

**"Wha--No. I was unconscious, and then I woke up strangely falling out of the sky and-and diving in the water with them. Okay? That much I recently remember aside from the headache. And what's this about me flying?"**

**Silence issued from Cynder before she spoke.**

"**Let me show you something."**

**As she diverted her gaze forward, Blade followed her example. What he saw caught him by stunning surprise. **

**There, he saw an image of himself, his unconscious being, flapping his wings in the skies with Dawn in his grasp while Sparx was next to him.**

**_"_Before you and the others came into contact with the shore_, this_**** happened_."_ Cynder spoke.**

**Silence, Blade shook his head in disbelief.**

"**No." He spoke softly. "No, it's impossible. How could that possibly happen?"**

**As the image faded, Cynder spoke while her gaze droned to the skies. **

"**It's amazing what your own subconscious could do without you actually knowing it."**

**Silence with the expression intact, Blade issued his attention to Cynder upon her comment.**

**"My subconscious?"**

**"Yeah. If it weren't for that, you guys would've been dead by now."**

**Although surprised and slightly confused, Blade nodded.**

**"Oh."**

**Silence.**

"**So are you ready?" She asked.**

**Silence, Blade took a moment of time to come into thought about this before nodding in response to her question. **

**Cynder nodded as she instructed Blade to take position at the edge.**

The purple dragon complied as he got in position and looked down at the ocean's current splashing against the bottom of the cliff.

**Slightly, he gulped down saliva with a hint of fear in his being as Cynder noticed.**

"**You don't have to be afraid, Blade. It's like I said, you can't drown."**

**Regardless of his state, Blade nodded in response. **

"**Okay. The trick to conquering flight is the mind. To accomplish this goal, you have to block out everything from your own mind and control your subconscious."**

**It took a while for Blade to take in the words before nodding. **

"**Okay. Now close your eyes and free your mind." She spoke softly as Blade complied by taking a deep breath and slowly closing his eyes. "Control your subconscious."**

**Cynder's soft voice almost felt alluring and entrancing to the purple dragon, yet he didn't deter from his focus.**

**Suddenly, he felt both his wings rising and beating down against the wind. The action almost grew startling and shocking to Blade, yet he didn't deter from his focus.**

**As Cynder watched with a smile, Blade's wings started flapping a bit faster as his body softly ascended from the ground.**

**As soon as he was a few feet from the ground, Blade opened his eyes and grew stunned by the development issuing at the moment. Yet, regardless of his state, he grew excited by this scenery.**

"**Whoa." He spoke softly.**

**Then, he looked down and saw Cynder on the ground with a proud smile etched on her face. **

"**Now, fly." She instructed softly. **

**With excitement overwhelming him, Blade diverted his gaze forward before taking a deep breath.**

**"WOOOOOOHOOOOO!!" He bellowed out as he immediately glided downward towards the ocean with the wind currents as his guide.**

**Before he could reach the ocean, he, at the last second, diverted his gliding flight forward, kicking up the ocean's water in the process.**

**"YEAH!!" He shouted as he surveyed his surroundings during this astonishing experience.**

**Oddly enough, despite his excitement, he pretty much mastered this with ease without strain or complications.**

**Time itself quickly and virtually slowed and reverted to normal during this process as the ocean's water trailed him in his flying wake.**

**Blade momentarily took note of this shift in time, but was too overly excited to come to terms with it at this point. So he left the issue alone for the time being.**

**After a while, he ascended towards the skies again while the wind's current issued around his body.**

**As soon as he was high enough underneath patches of clouds, he halted and hovered in the air as he looked down and, to his shock, saw the cliff in the far distance.**

**"Wow." He spoke.**

**Mentally, he has never traveled this fast or far before, nor has he no idea that he was able to travel at this speed and distance, but he grew excited upon the experience nonetheless.**

**With a snicker of excitement, Blade resumed his flight back to the cliff where the black dragoness was still in wait.**

**As soon as he got there, Cynder watched as he started to land, only to tumble his body to the ground. **

**His tumbling roll was halted as his chin made impact with the ground. With a groaning grimace of pain, Blade opened his eyes and looked up to find the black dragoness looking down at him from the front.**

**Cynder, although worried for his safety, issued a snicker from her maw.**

**"Are you alright?" She asked. **

**In his current position, Blade managed a groan before speaking.**

**"I'm okay." He said before chuckling. "I guess I gotta work on that landing, huh?"**

**Cynder issued a curt nod.**

**"Yeah. But, in time, you'll get it."**

**"Yeah." Blade spoke as he managed to stand on all four and straightened his body a bit.**

**After a while, he exhaled from his maw in excitement upon the adrenaline-pumping test that he has experienced.**

**Cynder noticed.**

**"You okay?"**

**"That was awesome. I mean, that was flat-out _freakishly_ awesome."**

**Cynder, with the smile intact, chuckled.**

**"I don't know about '_Freakishly_,' but nice positive approval."**

**Blade smiled.**

**"Complimentary. So, what now?"**

"**Now, you wake up." Her voice echoed. **

**Blade took note of it, but was slow to react before he was once again engulfed in white light.

* * *

**A/N: _**Yep, another long one. And it looks like Blade has mastered a new breath attack along with the adrenaline rush effects of flight. And eventually, after much wait, I added Cynder to the mix, in her young form, of course. In later chaps, it'll be quite different, at least I think. Anyway, the next one won't be long, but it's recommedable to read. Keep on the lookout! Ciao!**_

**Next Chap: **_As a single night has passed, Blade awakens to a new surrounding as well as an introduction to a seemingly familiar character_.


	12. Wind

Chapter Eleven: **Wind

* * *

**

(**The Next Night**)

Blade opened his eyes and immediately felt a slight sting to his head followed by the feel of a soft cloth while, at the same time, surveying his surroundings with a hint of confusion on his facial feature.

The place he was in was like a briefly narrowed cave with nearby torches illuminating the area. Then, he looked down the open passageway up ahead that was also littered with torches.

Then, he could hear fainted voices from the distance; some that he instantly recognized.

However, before he could come to that conclusion, he halted upon seeing three silhouettes entering the area and approaching towards his position; one of them seemingly being taller than the others, and one seems to be emitting some small glow of sparkling light.

With the purple dragon's fear in check, the silhouettes images grew illuminated by the torches in the form of, to his relief, Dawn and Sparx while the third silhouette, regardless of the slightly dim torches, remains shrouded in the shadows.

Upon notice of his awakened state, Dawn and Sparx made their way to the purple dragon's position with a hint of anxiety on their expression.

"Blade, you're awake. Are y-Are you okay?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, Spiky, you were out like a light when we came to. You okay?" Sparx asked.

Before Blade could answer, he felt the same slight sting to his head as he cringed and groaned slightly from the pain while the dragonfly noticed.

"Aside from the sharp headache, I'm fine." Blade replied.

"Yeah, you can thank old feline for the wound patch." Sparx spoke.

Upon that comment, Blade's expression grew of surprise.

"Hunter's here?"

Silence, Dawn lowered her head a bit and shook her head in response, which issued Blade's confusion.

"Then who—"

"I think they mean me." A voice spoke, which issued Blade's stunning attention.

Approaching from the brief shadows, a tall, early 20s muscular cheetah made its presence to the purple dragon. Aside from his muscular build, he has green eyes, whiskers to his white cheeks, and black spots surrounding his orange fur. He also had hair between his small cat-like ears, a med-inch tail at the buttock, and a strap that withheld, not only arrows, but his signature weaponry of choice: _The Crossbow!_

Upon sight of this stunning feature, Blade mentally took this individual for their archery feline back at their village. Yet, his confusion has set in to who this feline was.

"Who are you?" Blade asked.

Silence, the feline's expression grew stern as his eyes droned downward to the purple dragon.

"My name is Wind. And I take it that you're the purple dragon known as Blade?"

Blade nodded.

"Yeah."

Wind nodded in kind.

"Nice to meet you." He spoke as Blade started surveying his surroundings again.

Wind noticed.

"Where are we?" Blade asked.

"You're in an underground cave beneath the island. Don't worry, you're safe here."

Momentarily, Blade slowly diverted his gaze downward in wonder before issuing his gaze to Wind, who has sat down against the wall in the opposite direction.

"How long was I out?" He asked as Dawn and Sparx positioned themselves next to him.

"For over a day." He answered.

Blade grew stunned by that news, yet he was anxious to know more.

"What happened with us? How did we get here?"

"You were washed ashore. And before I got there to your position upon sight, I saw a few riders on dreadwings headed here from up far. So I scooped you guys up and brought you down here. What happened afterwards, I wasn't sure. But I wasn't going to stick around to find out."

Blade grew silence for a while in order to register the cheetah's words to mind. However, before he could say anything else, images immediately issued at the core of his mind on the incidents that transpired at the village.

Upon those images, a startling gasp issued from Blade's maw as Wind and the others noticed with concern.

"Blade, what is it?" Dawn asked.

Silence, Blade's expression slowly grew of determination as he strained his body upright until he was on all four and started departing away from the others towards the hatch entrance to the cave.

Upon notice, Wind and the others immediately made haste towards him.

"Blade, where are you going?" Wind asked while walking.

"I have to go back to our village." Blade stated as he walked without making eye contact.

Wind shook his head.

"I'm afraid that's impossible."

"Nothing's impossible."

Immediately, Blade halted his hasty walk upon seeing the dragonfly at his face with a stern gaze on his facial feature as Wind and Dawn, upon notice, halted and watched.

"Listen to him, Spiky. You'll get yourself hurt."

In silent anger, Blade briefly grinded his teeth upon the comment while issuing his glare to the dragonfly.

"Sparx," He peeved. "I told you before that I am tired of hiding."

"And I told you that the place was going to Hell!" Sparx shot back with a hint of anger in his voice. "Come on, Spiky! You saw what was happening!"

Blade nodded.

"I saw what happened, and I told you that I wasn't liking it one bit. So I'm willing to do something about it."

Sparx snickered incredulously upon the comment.

"Oh, what, by getting yourself killed?"

"You—" Blade halted and issued a sigh of irritation before speaking. "You know what, Sparx? If you don't want to come, then stay here with Dawn and Wind. But _I_ am going!"

As Blade waltzed passed the dragonfly, Dawn started to call out to him as soon as she got to Sparx's position, but it grew in vain as he continued his walk.

But he was only a quarter of an inch from Dawn and Sparx's position before the point of an arrow linked to a crossbow halted him at his position.

Blade nearly grew startled by this reaction, but kept his fear in check with sternness etched on his face as he slowly looked from the crossbow up to the weapon's holder known as Wind.

Sparx, and especially Dawn were dumbfounded as to how Wind was able to get from their current position up towards the purple dragon.

But they disregarded that issue with a hint of anxiety on their facial feature upon witnessing this action.

Both were silence during their standoff as Wind kept his aim and stern gaze to Blade's face.

"You still want to go out there?" Wind spoke in an emotionless tone.

"You wouldn't understand." Blade spoke.

Wind shook his head.

"No. It is you who don't understand, purple dragon."

Slowly, to Dawn and Sparx's relief, he lowered his crossbow from aiming view, yet their stares remained the same.

"Let me show you." He spoke.

* * *

On the surface of the island, numerous pulsating crystals were embedded on the soil on each sections of the island, which resulted in trees, bushes, and vegetations rusting away.

Also, upon results to this, a dome-shaped force field has entrapped the entire island to prevent any means of escape.

The many armor-clad apes, whether small or large, were on guard for these crystals in hopes to ensure no surprise attack from anything.

Only a day ago, they were ordered to infiltrate the purple dragon after the siege, which lead them to the island. Yet, they had no luck. But regardless, they were issued a secondary order to place the crystals into the few realms, including the island to commence with the procedure of the plan.

However, many of them were oblivious to the fact that they were being watched at the moment.

Wind and Blade were observing the activity from a small hatch entrance door from up far in the shadows to cloak them from detection.

Blade grew in stunned surprised by the activity taking place at the moment as Wind noticed, but kept his gaze forward for observation.

"This happened shortly after I got you guys to safety last night. When those crystals came, almost every life on this island started to deteriorate into nothing while those apes somewhat grows immune to the effect. Luckily, we had reinforced steel that prevents those crystals from draining anything from underground, which is also why you see me alive today."

As Wind looked to Blade, he saw that the purple dragon had the same expression on his face upon what he's witnessing.

"Now you see why you can't leave? Besides, even if you wanted to, you can't. That force field guards the island. Anyway, to my guess, if anyone gets close to those crystals, their energy source is sapped away." He said as he diverted his gaze forward and shook his head. "So I couldn't risk it."

Regardless of his expression, Blade spoke.

"Have you tried to destroy at least one of them? The crystals?"

Wind nodded.

"I tried, but it was useless. In the process, I almost got myself caught. Thank God for speed and stealth."

After a while of observation and silence, Wind and Blade resided back down the entrance and silently closed the hatch without notice.

* * *

_**Well, Rurik, I hope you like the description considering that I had to trail back to Memories for it. Sorry it took me long, but I had other things on my mind at this point in time. Anyway, the next chap is guaranteed to be long, so keep on the lookout everyone. And my deepest thanks for not diverting away from the story. Ciao!**_

**_In the next chap, as Blade is issued his next test, he is greeted with a celestial figure for the first time._**


	13. Test of Will and Dragon Time

Chapter Twelve: **Test of Will and Dragon Time**

* * *

'_Glacia._' A familiar soft voice called.

Glacia, suddenly, awoke with a startling gasp escaping her maw. As she was breathing softly, she surveyed her surroundings. For a moment, she thought that she heard a voice, but dismissed the issue and resumed her surveillance. She was in an isolated area with no windows. Only chains, that were connected to each wall, except near the doorway, occupied the area.

Confusion settled on her expression as to where she was and why she was still alive after, to her knowledge, what has transpired on the cliff as she looked to find that she was, not only was healed, but also was vertically shackled to the wall from head to hind legs. Even her tail was shackled, which provided no assurance of escape.

Then, her face hardened upon memories of the culprit held responsible.

"Dargaul." She whispered.

It was a well-known fact that Dargaul was behind her and the elders' capture. But the question on her mind was: _How was it possible? How is this dragon hunter alive after she saw to his death thirteen years ago_?

Her answer was in silence before her attention was diverted forward upon the dangling on the knob of a metallic door.

The metallic door opened with a straining creak as Glacia saw, to her sheer hatred, the sight of the dragon hunter entering the confinement area.

Dargaul took note of her with a sinister smile to his face while Glacia's glare pierced through this heartless individual's very essence.

Images of what has transpired thirteen years ago at the hands of this hunter have littered her mind.

She saw how she was the victim of his tortuous game during her capture, to which, despite the recent work of the elixir, she has the scars to prove.

Then, her thoughts dwelled to Spyro, the secondary purple dragon of destiny.

She remembered the deep wounds that the purple dragon sustained and endured at the hands of this hunter including the tragic demise that befallen the purple hero. She deeply remembered the purple dragon's blood splattering on her bodily form as a result of his actions.

Then, she remembered the heavily injured purple dragon dying in her arms while she shed falling tears of overwhelming grief. Not to mention the dreams of that incident that has constantly littered her mind for thirteen years that--had it not been for the comfort of friends and family--nearly would have lead to an emotional breakdown and suicide.

Each one of those memories has struck every ounce of nerve, anger and hatred in her bodily form as she constantly glared the hunter down.

Dargaul took note of this, but took no immediate reaction to this as he closed the metal door and slowly approached her position while taking into astonishing sight of her physical appearance.

"My, how the years have changed you, my dear." Dargaul spoke, his sinister smile intact.

With her expression intact, Glacia grew silence before coming upon a question that was recently on her mind.

"How? How are you alive?" She spoke, venom clear in her tone. "The last time I saw you, you were decapitated."

Upon those comments, an image entered the dragon hunter's mind on that graphic incident. Mentally, Dargaul grew infuriated upon, not only the memory, but being reminded of it as well. But regardless, he kept a calm stature and nodded.

"True, I did lose my head after thirteen years. But, due to some _anonymous_ help, I managed to get it back."

Silence issued from Glacia, who pondered on the dragon hunter's words of this anonymous help, as Dargaul approached toward the captive until he was a few feet in front of her.

Both grew silence for a while as Dargaul loses the smile and issued a stern gaze towards the ice dragoness.

"You know, for thirteen years of death I thought I was free from this world. Quite frankly, Hell was my only comfort of relief."

"Yeah, well, I think Hell is where you belong after what you have done!" Glacia spoke, venom laced in her voice. "You—"

She halted as the memories resurfaced back to that graphic display of tragedy thirteen years ago in regards to the purple dragon. She remembered, not only the spear that impaled the purple dragon and splattered his blood all over her, but also the horror that she felt in her being upon that scenery.

Glacia strongly held back her tears as her lips cringed with hatred upon the memory.

"You took him away from me, you fucking heartless monster."

Regardless of the strong, verbal insult, Dargaul kept his sternness towards her.

"He said that exact same thing to me about the black dragoness, except for the last piece of words that you uttered. Do you want to know what I said to him?" He questioned, yet he didn't wait for the ice dragoness to respond to his question. "I said, '_A life for a life._' You see, you may think that he is the savior of our realms. But in my eyes, he's a sadistic, merciless killer."

Upon those offensive remarks, Glacia, while viciously snarling, strongly, but vainly struggled against her binds in an attempt to maim this sadistic creature.

"DAMN YOU!! DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE SPEAK ILL OF HIM!! HE IS NOT A KILLER!! HE IS NOT--" She bellowed before the dragon hunter instantly issued a harsh backslap to the right cheek of the ice dragoness.

Glacia grunted upon the impact of the blow as she held back the tears before slowly issuing her strong, hateful glare towards the hunter.

Regardless of the emotional outburst, the hunter remained stern towards the ice dragoness.

"You will keep your voice down, my dear." He warned as he roughly grasped her chin with his left hand, while Glacia struggled to no avail, before resuming. "Consider yourself lucky that I haven't gutted you like a trout for my collection when I had the utmost opportunity. You were nearly dead on that cliff where I found you, but unfortunately, you are going to play a very special part in our little plan, which is the reason why you and the other elders are still alive at this point. So if I were you, I would be more careful not to antagonize the captor anymore than he already is."

Afterwards, he withdrew his hand from her chin as Glacia kept her glare to him.

"What have you done with the elders?" She demanded.

Dargaul grew unresponsive as he turned and immediately left the room, leaving Glacia in darkness.

As soon as he left, closing the door afterwards, the ice dragoness, to her shock and worry, took earshot of a conversation, at the other side of the door, between Dargaul and one of his henchmen that mentions a purple dragon and their failed attempts in trying to find and maybe kill the creature. Could they be talking about Blade?

Instantly, tears resurfaced in the ice dragoness' eyes upon thoughts of her son. She just hopes that they would never find him and do unspeakable things to him. She couldn't bear it if her son became the victim of this dragon hunter just like Spyro was.

'_Divine ancestors, please protect my son._' Her thoughts spoke, softly as her head lowered while the tears fall to the ground.

* * *

Blade, who long since rid himself of the cloth from his healed forehead, was positioned on a comfortable cushion in a makeshift bedroom next to Dawn where Sparx was snoring and resting on her head.

Recently, Wind provided them a room for them to rest in regardless of the fact that they were underground.

Now Dawn and Sparx were sound asleep. But unfortunately, Blade was unable to come to rest at this point. And the reason for that was apparent: His worried thoughts were dwelling on his mother and the elders.

He couldn't stop thinking about them or what would these invasive apes do to them.

Then, he thought back on what he and Wind has witnessed on the surface of the island and recently tried and struggled to come up with a solution to this problem.

But no matter how hard he tried, it became a vain attempt at this point.

With a sigh of frustration, he rested his head on the cushion and closed his eyes in an attempt to try and get some rest in hopes to come up with some idea to deal with the situation at hand.

* * *

'_**It would seem that your mind is troubled, young dragon.**_' **A mysterious voice spoke.**

**Instantly, upon the voice, Blade awoke with a startling gasp to find himself in unfamiliar territory.**

**With confusion etched on his face, he surveyed his surroundings to find himself positioned on a small rock platform surrounded by many floating, rotating platforms of similar and differential fashion.**

**The sky itself was, to his stunning shock, like that of the dimensional anomaly of time and space. It was no mistake that he was dreaming again.**

**Then, he heard noises emanating from the platforms surrounding him. The noise grew loud and deafening as the platforms were rotating faster at each passing second.**

**Blade cringed upon the increasing noises as he shut his eyes and grinded his teeth while groaning from the rising pain in his cranial skull.**

**"Stop." He whispered, yet his words grew heedless. "Make it stop!"**

**Suddenly, the noise loosened and the platforms rotated to a slower pace as Blade pants heavily before opening his eyes and surveying his surroundings to see, to his awe and confusion, that the platforms were going at a slow, steady pace.**

'**_Could I have done that?_' His thoughts spoke.**

**He didn't know for sure that it was by command of his own words or something else. Then, he noticed a few rotating rock platforms lined up forward that led to a circular crystal-type looking clearing ahead.**

**"Dragon Time, a unique and effective technique that a purple dragon can possess and master." A voice spoke out of nowhere, which instantly issued the purple dragon's startle as he surveyed his surroundings for the source while being careful not to fall off the platform he's positioned on.**

**"Who's there? Who are you?" Blade demanded.**

**"I am known as The Chronicler."**

**"The—" **

**Blade halted upon that comment as his mind drifted in thoughts. Then, he remembered the conversation that he had in his first dream in regards to this individual.__**

"**_He goes by the name of The Chronicler._" Spyro's words spoke.**

**"The Chronicler." Blade spoke softly as his eyes slightly widened upon the sudden anticipation.**

"**_You don't find him. He finds you._" Spyro's words echoed.**

**"Oh, my God." He spoke in the same tone.**

**"Young Blade…" The Chronicler's voice echoed, which issued Blade's immediate attention. "Seek me out."**

**"How?" He asked.**

**"The power of Dragon Time requires the manipulation of the mind. Use it wisely, and it will guide you across."**

**Silence, Blade took the words into thought as he slowly diverted his gaze forward.**

**Mentally, he felt uncertain by this out of fear of falling, but an amount of courage seeped its way into his being as he strongly droned his gaze unto the platforms while coming into thoughts of the Chronicler's words.**

'**_The power of Dragon Time requires the manipulation of the mind. Use it wisely, and it will guide you across._**'

**At that moment, the purple dragon realized what he had to do. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again towards the rotating platforms.**

**_'Alright, Blade, let's concentrate. Let's focus._' His thoughts spoke.**

**At the same time, Blade tries to keep a calm stature and not strain himself on this test. He has been doing that recently with his last two dreams and he doesn't plan on doing so in this one. In this test, it was a one shot start. One mishap could plummet him down to his death.**

**After a while, Blade suddenly felt the entire world around him shift to a stop. From his point of view, he saw that the rotating rock platforms were in an upright position.**

**Wasting little time, he leaped across the platforms on his way towards the crystal clearing while being careful not to lose focus.**

**His movements were slightly slowed, yet, to his awe, remarkably normal in this state, but regardless, he didn't deter from his focus as he resumed his crossing.**

**No sooner has he leaped from the fourth platform that the effect of the technique has worn off and the platforms started rotating at normal pace.**

**As Blade landed on the edge of the clearing, he looked and saw the platforms rotating again before issuing a sigh of relief from his maw.**

**"Made it." He spoke softly.**

**"I should say, you have." The voice of the Chronicler spoke, which issued Blade's attention. "Well done. Now that you have learned the ability of Dragon Time, it is time to put it to the test once again. But be warned, young dragon. The effects are utmost limited."**

**Suddenly, to Blade's notice, three rotating seesaw-like objects were positioned over the bottomless pit leading upwards toward another circular crystal-like clearing.**

**"Once you have reached the top, you will begin your next test."**

**Silence, Blade issued a nod before approaching towards the edge of the clearing where the seesaw objects were near.**

**Blade took a moment to observe the objects before performing the same procedure as with the rock platforms.**

**Due to his recent experience, he managed to easily succeed in doing so as the objects rotate at a slow pace. Afterwards, he leaped towards the first seesaw with little difficulty. But as soon as he landed, the edge of the object started to descend downward while the other edge ascended upwards, which provided the purple dragon an idea.**

**Quickly, he started running up to the other edge and, with perfect timing, he took a leap towards the second seesaw object.**

**As with the first object, the edge started to descend while the other edge ascended. So Blade made quick efforts to reach the other edge and used précised timing to reach the third and final seesaw.**

**Once again, he made a quick effort to reach the other upper edge and made his leap to the near crystal landscape before the Dragon Time effects were able to wear off.**

**Unfortunately, the leap wasn't high enough, which forced the purple dragon to grasp a hold on the ledge at the edge of the landscape with both claws followed by a grunt escaping his maw.**

**He thought he could pull his body up to safety, but the landscape proved to be slippery at this point, which led to desperation for the purple dragon as he tried in vain to pull himself up.**

**As he slowly started slipping off the ledge, he closed his eyes out of fear and waited his fall to death.**

**Suddenly, he felt something. It was something sharp and growing at the tip of his fingers and toes.**

**Confusion settled on Blade's expression, yet instinct took over as the purple dragon gripped the landscape, which, to his sudden surprise, halted his stop from slipping over the ledge.**

**But regardless of his expression, he started to pull himself up to the landscape. As soon as he got there, confusion settled back on his expression as he looked down towards his claws to find that the nails were receding back to its original position.**

_'What?_**' His thoughts questioned.**

**Of course, this wasn't the first time this has happened. His thoughts dwelled back to the incident at the village where he somehow managed to kill two dreadwings with something that came from his forearms.**

**Then, recently, he had asked his mother about what the scan was about at the lab, but she said that it wasn't anything of importance in order to ease the purple dragon of any worry.**

**Could this be what she has neglected to tell him?**

**He didn't know. Yet, he had little time to come to terms with it before the voice of the Chronicler made its return.**

**"Well done, young dragon. You have mastered the technique of Dragon Time. Now, your next challenge begins."**

**Suddenly, two crystallized target objects appeared a couple of feet from the purple dragon's position as confusion settled on Blade's mind upon this scenery.**

**"Wh-What am I suppose to do here?" He asked.**

**"The consciousness can be very powerful to the mind, young dragon. Thus defines the power of will. If you are to proceed further, you must destroy the objects before you."**

**"But how am I suppose to do that?" He asked, yet he gotten no response. "Chronicler?!"**

**He issued a sigh from his maw.**

**"Great." He muttered. "Even the voices in my head stops talking to me."**

**Regardless, he issued his attention towards the two objects before him. His first instinct was to leave the objects alone and move forward, but there were no standing objects nearby, which means that he was stuck there. **

**Then, he thought back on the Chronicler's words.**

'**_If you are to proceed further, you must destroy the objects before you._'**

**Then, his thoughts lead back to one question:** **_How_?**

**He didn't know. So he decided to improvise by using his breath attacks starting with his flame breath, which left the targets unscathed. He tried again with the fireball attacks, but the projectile ended up repelling back towards his position, to which he managed to evade from.**

**He exhaled from his breath with a hint of relief.**

**"Well, that didn't work." He muttered.**

**Then, he tried switching to another form of power:** **_His ice blast attack_.**

**But to his disappointment, the results were the same as that of the fireball attack, to which he once again managed to steer from harm's way.**

**Then, the purple dragon went as far as to try the Ice Spike attack. Yet, regardless of its powerful efforts, it wasn't enough to break the target objects as it resulted in the spikes shattering to pieces.**

**With a strong grimace of frustration and a soft growl emitting from his maw, Blade started to approach towards the objects oblivious to the fact that his silver fingernails were extending.**

**As soon as he got towards the target's position, specifically the left target's position, Blade stood up on his hind legs—something that his mother managed to teach him while growing up—and issued a vicious left swipe to the target.**

**To his startling surprise, four claw marks issued onto the target as a result of that.**

**With the expression intact, Blade looked at his hand to find that his nails were receding back to his original position before he slowly got back down on all four. **

**As he took this development into pondering thought, his mind drifted back towards the Chronicler's words.**

'_The consciousness can be very powerful to the mind, young dragon. Thus defines the power of will._**'**

**"The power of will." Blade repeated.**

**Then, Blade came into thought on what has transpired at the village with the dreadwings including to what has happened moments ago when he was on the ledge. But he didn't know if he was doing it by will or not. Regardless, anticipation settled into the purple dragon's facial feature as he got back to his position at the front of the targets and looked down towards the curved spikes on his forearms.**

**"Here we go." He muttered as he took a deep breath and issued his determined gaze forward towards the targets.**

'**_Concentrate_.' His thoughts spoke.**

**As his determined gaze slightly hardened with his calm stature, he suddenly felt that familiar sharpness issuing from below him.**

**Blade took a chance and looked down to find, to his surprise, that the curved spikes on his forearms were shimmering and slowly extending to a horizontal base. And despite what was happening, the purple dragon felt less pain from this reaction.**

**It indeed grew surprising to the purple dragon, yet he diverted back to his previous expression to keep his focus while looking forward towards his two targets.**

**As he did so, the spikes were pointed directly to the targets as Blade kept his expression intact. **

**Then, his face slightly cringed as he issued a grunt before, suddenly, two spikes shot out of his forearms in reactive response.**

**As the spiky--no pun intended--projectiles soared at a fast pace, time immediately slowed as they made contact with the two targets, resulting in numerous cracks issuing around the targets.**

**Then, as time reverted to normal, the crystallized targets, as if they were made of ice, shattered to millions of pieces while the adamantine projectiles impaled itself into the nearby structure.**

**As the spikes reverted back to its original base on the purple dragon's forearms, Blade's expression grew stunning upon the outcome.**

**"Wow." He spoke.**

**Then, a light-hearted chuckle issued from all around him as the Chronicler's voice returned, which issued Blade's attention.**

**"You are quite a natural, young dragon. Well done."**

**Suddenly, to Blade's notice, a few upright rock platforms appeared nearby that lead upwards towards the entrance of a tall cave.**

**Wasting little time, Blade made haste towards the platforms without the use of Dragon Time since the platforms weren't rotating at the moment, to which he was grateful for.**

**As soon as he made it to the front of the entrance, he carefully observed the outside of the tall cave as well as the inside.**

**Then, from his distance, he could see a vision pool at the center that was quite similar to that of the one in the temple in the dragon village.**

**Carefully, he took a slow approach inside the cave while observing the nearby walls and such.**

**During his observation, he found no signs of the Chronicler anywhere.**

'_Where is he?_**' His thoughts wondered, yet his answer grew in silence.**

**As soon as he got to the center, he looked down to the green swirling pool before the Chronicler's voice returned.**

**"I sensed that your troubled mind seeks answers, young dragon."**

**Blade nodded.**

**"Yes. You have told me to seek you out. I naturally assumed that, by using Dragon Time or the effects of will, it would lead me to you."**

**"The effects of Dragon Time and Will were merely a test to guide you across towards this place. Regretfully, it is not to find me for I am bound to my own home. But do not despair, young dragon. You will seek me out in time. Or would you prefer this."**

**Suddenly, to Blade's shocking notice, a large spiritual image issued over the vision pool, granting the purple dragon the privilege of coming to gaze with the smiling face of the celestial dragon known as The Chronicler.**

**The image itself towered over the young dragon, who nearly gasped and almost felt compelled to kneel before this celestial figure who stood with a heavenly grace and great wisdom.**

**"Uh…U-uh…" Blade stuttered out upon this presence, out of fear and shock.**

**The Chronicler, who's gaze droned down to the purple dragon for a while, took note of the purple dragon's reaction with a hint of concern as his smile loosened.**

**"You need not fear me, young dragon." He spoke softly. "You are not at harm here."**

**Upon those comforting words, Blade's expression of fear loosened, yet his expression of shock remained.**

"**I'm sorry." Blade spoke, softly. "It's just that…"**

**"It is alright, young one." He interjected. "Because believe me, everyone reacts to my presence in these sorts of ways."**

**"Really?"**

**The Chronicler nodded in response as Blade loosened his expression with a calm stature.**

**The celestial dragon took note of this.**

**"Are you at ease?"**

**Silence, Blade diverted his gaze downward, took a deep breath and nodded.**

**"Yeah, I'm—I'm fine."**

**The Chronicler nodded, yet he grew a bit unconvinced.**

**"That may be true, but I sense that your mind is greatly troubled."**

**Blade issued a deep sigh from his breath. He was deeply troubled, but how did The Chronicler knew of that was beyond him at the moment. Regardless, he decided to speak on the issue.**

**"Yes."** **He spoke before diverting his worried gaze towards The Chronicler."My mother and the elders have been taken by a horde of apes in the midst of an attack on the village. Then, these crystals came and were embedded into the realms, draining all life from it. My questions are: ****_Who, Why, and for what purpose?"_**

The Chronicler grew silence for while with a stern expression on his face. In truth, he has anticipated this from the purple dragon, yet he didn't want to deprive him of that explanation due to the mental state that he's in.

**Regardless, he provided an answer for the purple dragon.**

**"The** '**_who_' that you speak of are beings of the recent past."**

**Blade creased his brow with a hint of confusion.**

**"Recent past?"**

**The Chronicler nodded before suddenly, to Blade's notice, a row of murals appeared on opposite sides of the celestial dragon's spiritual image. On them were illustrational paintings that depict the events of the recent past from before, during and after.**

**As Blade observed each mural, the Chronicler issued his speech while his attention was diverted to the murals.**

"**Yes. Decades ago, before the war with the Dark Master and the lands were young; a council was formed to bring order to the lands. Flaron, the fire dragon, was one of the members of the council."**

**"Flaron?" Blade questioned while stealing a quick glance to the celestial dragon.**

**The Chronicler nodded and resumed while the purple dragon looked back to the murals.**

**"Then, when the war with the Dark Master started, the head council decreed, as prophesied by the lore, that four elders were to be chosen and put into play to become the elemental guardians."**

**With his attention intact to the murals, Blade expression grew of interest upon that comment.**

**"The Elemental Guardians?"**

**The Chronicler issued a curt nod before resuming.**

**"There are four elements: _Fire, Ice, Thunder, and Earth._**** Each element has its own unique potential of attacks, including that of the most powerful known only as '**_**Fury.**_**'"**

**"Fury?"**

**"Yes. Every other dragon, including Flaron and the council members, in the lands were chosen for this task to master the power of fury in order to gain the titles to be the guardians of fire, ice, thunder, and earth, but in the end, Ignitus, Cyril, Volteer, and Terrador became victorious."**

**Then, the Chronicler's expression grew to one of dread, yet his stern feature remained intact as Blade took note of this, but stayed silence for a while.**

**"But Flaron, upon those results, grew infuriated. It was something that the dark master has a talent for manipulating into the mind of others. Ignitus tried to reason with him, but it grew on deaf ears. Greed, hatred, and revenge were Flaron's only emotions and thoughts, which lead him to attack his own, betray the council, and form an alliance with our enemy. It wasn't long before he persuaded many of the council members to side with him while the others chose to join with the head council."**

**Blade grew beyond shocked and disgusted upon the story.**

**"But that's terrible. All because he was a sore loser in becoming an element guardian?"**

**"You must understand, young dragon, that an element guardian's power can pretty much be unmatched by those. That of which Flaron has a thirst for."**

**As his expression loosened, Blade grew silence for a while before speaking on a thought that crossed his mind.**

**"So…were they friends with each other before? Ignitus and Flaron?"**

**The Chronicler grew silence for a while before speaking.**

"**Once upon a time."**

**Blade grew slightly perplexed by the comment, yet he nodded.**

**"Oh. So what happened then?"**

"**When the war ended, Flaron was exiled from the lands along with those who sided with him, never to return again. Sadly, it grew in vain for he has returned and has now mastered the dark arts of magic to accomplish his goals."**

**As the murals vanished, the Chronicler redirected his attention to the purple dragon as Blade, deep in thought, grew in silence for a while.**

**"So all this is his pursuit of revenge for what has happened decades ago with Ignitus and the other guardians? So that's why they were captured."**

**The Chronicler nodded as Blade diverted his attention to the celestial dragon before him.**

**"It was a single burden that Ignitus and the other guardians have kept to themselves for years. No one has ever spoke of it around them."**

**Silence, Blade issued a soft nod while anticipation masked his expression.**

**"Oh. And I'm willing to guess that Flaron's sole purpose for this is power."**

**Silence, The Chronicler nodded.**

**"Revenge and power, to be precise, yes."**

**Blade diverted his gaze downward for a while before looking up to the Chronicler with sternness in his eyes upon a recent thought that entered his mind.**

**"What about those apes? And then there's this leader that I saw earlier. Who was he? A-And why do I feel like I recognize him before?"**

**Silence, The Chronicler's expression remained stern, yet it hardened with a hint of hidden loathing inside upon whom Blade speaks of.**

**"He is someone who many have thought to be dead years ago, young Blade. His name is Dargaul, a dragon hunter, whose sole purpose is only vengeance. How you were able to know him before, I know not. But it appears that since Flaron has revived him, he may have wanted him for a reason."**

**"But I don't understand. Dargaul's a dragon hunter and Flaron's a dragon. Why would these two work together?"**

**"That is a valid question, young dragon. Flaron has a method of persuading those to side with him by means of empty promises, which is why you should be cautious by such persuasion."**

**The purple dragon took clear consideration to the celestial dragon's words, but regardless, Blade's expression grew of desperation as his thoughts dwelled to his captive mother and the elders.**

**"Chronicler, my mother has been captured along with the elders. I have to save them. Please. Do you know where they are?"**

**The Chronicler, upon note of the purple dragon's distress, nodded.**

"**I do. And you will save them in time, young dragon. But first, there is the matter of dealing with the crystals that drains the lands. So far, they have managed to take the realms of Winter Tundra, Peacekeepers, and the Tall Plains region. You must go to these realms and destroy the crystals. To neglect this otherwise will hinder your progress. Understood?"**

**Regardless of his expression, Blade nodded in response.**

**"Then, I bid you farewell." His voice echoed throughout the cave.**

**Then, the blinding white light once again engulfed the purple dragon.**

* * *

Blade opened his eyes and surveyed his surrounding to find that he was still in the makeshift room where he, Dawn, and Sparx were residing in.

He thought about going back to sleep, but once again thought otherwise as determination was slowly etched on his face upon mental images of his recent training including that of his mother and the elders and the words of The Chronicler. Thus, providing the courage and motivation needed for him to do what he has to do to save them. It was just only a matter of trying to find them.

Mentally, he came to a decision and started slowly making his way from his sleeping area without the purpose of waking the others.

After he managed to accomplish that, he made his way towards the entrance hatch to the tunnel.

* * *

_**Looks like Blade learned some new tricks and is ready for some action. Keep on the lookout! Ciao**_._**  
**_

_**In the next chap, Blade, against Wind's wishes, goes up against the hostiles on the outside.**_


	14. A Risky Solution

Chapter Thirteen: **A Risky Solution  
**________________________________________________________________________  
As the entrance hatch door creaks open, Blade took a reconnaissance peek to the outside area towards the ongoing activity on the surface.

During his observation, Blade has noticed a few things. The first thing that he noticed was the force field surrounding the island, the second being the pulsating crystals in the ground, which piqued the bluish purple dragon's anticipation.

'_It's almost as if these crystals are linked to the force field._' His thoughts spoke.

If this proves true, then Blade would have to destroy these crystals embedded on the ground soils in order to collapse the force field, which poses the question: _How?_

How was he going to accomplish that without being depleted of his life energy from the crystals? And then, there were the numerous armor-clad apes that are posted there, which poses another question: _How was he going to take them on with his limited abilities_?

"Blade." A voice whispered.

The purple dragon flinched in startle upon the voice, but eased his stature in calm when he saw Dawn and Sparx positioned next to him with questionable expressions on their faces.

"What are you two doing up?" He asked in a whisper.

"We should ask you the same question, Spiky." Sparx spoke in a similar tone.

In silence, Blade sighed before diverting his gaze to the outside activity while Dawn and Sparx, upon recognition of his silence, did the same.

As the silence loomed between the three, Dawn came upon a question that was recently on her mind.

"Blade, can I ask you a question?"

Blade directed his attention to her.

"Go ahead." He spoke before Dawn issued her questionable gaze to him.

"Yesterday, earlier in the air, you were flying while unconscious. How?"

"Yeah, Spiky, I was kinda wondering that myself considering the fact that you don't know how to fly, much less swim." Sparx spoke before diverting his gaze to the bluish purple dragon.

Silence issued from Blade as he lowered his gaze downward in pondering thought of a possible answer to their questions.

With a deep sigh escaping his breath, Blade spoke.

"You know, I'm not sure how to explain it myself, but it was due to my subconscious."

Both Dawn and Sparx grew of perplex upon the response.

"Your subconscious?" She spoke.

Blade nodded.

"Yeah. Stuff happening without me knowing it."

"Like the curved spikes on your forearms?" Sparx asked.

The dragonfly half-expected the bluish purple dragon to deny that conclusion, but, to his surprise, Blade perform no such ordeal.

"Yeah, like that. To top that off, I started having dreams followed by acquiring skills that I never thought I would have." He answered while directing his stern gaze back to the ongoing activity.

"Really?" Dawn questioned.

Blade nodded in response as both Dawn and Sparx took the purple dragon's words into consideration.

All grew silence for a while before Dawn came back upon a simple question.

"So what are you doing up?"

"I'm trying to find a solution to this problem." He answered.

Confusion almost settled on Dawn and Sparx's facial feature upon the comment before diverting their gaze forward to the activity ahead, which instantly piqued their shocking anticipation to the purple dragon's words.

"Wait a minute." Dawn spoke before, with her expression intact, diverting her gaze to Blade. "Y...you're not thinking about going into the middle of that, are you?"

Silence issued from the purple dragon as the question littered his mind. Then, determination was plastered on his facial feature as he came up with a risky solution to this problem upon thoughts of his recent training. His abilities may be limited for the time being, but it was worth a shot at this point.

"Stay here." He ordered as he used his forepaws to heave himself out of the hatch before sprinting, on all four, towards the activity ahead.

Dawn and Sparx took note of this and started silently calling Blade back in order to avoid any amount of detection, yet they were deaf ears from the purple dragon's distance.

With strong determination etched on his face, the purple dragon kept to his sprinting run, feeling his brave heart pulsating throughout the process. However, it wasn't long before a large sword wielding armor-clad ape took note of his presence.

Immediately, the ape issued a grunt of alert, which in turn signaled the others at their post.

By a glance, Blade took note of this, yet kept to his run before feeling a familiar coldness from his body. The coldness almost grew startling, yet it didn't deter the young dragon from his run.

The large ape raised its sword over his head in an attempt to strike before Blade opened his maw, unleashing a long, extended ice stalactite projectile.

As the projectile soared, it made contact with the large ape, who grunted painfully, embedding itself into the midsection and out of its back, blood splattering from both sides of the harsh injury afterwards.

Time virtually slows as the deceased ape started to, not only fall to the ground soil, but also become encased in ice as a result of the _Ice Spike_ attack.

Blade, slightly aware of the mental use of Dragon Time surrounding every area, made his way towards the deceased ape's position and, by the time the corpse made contact with the ground, he took a daring leap over the ape's frozen deceased body.

The apes, small and large, that were surrounding the area aimed their spear gauntlet in the purple dragon's direction and issued fire.

During that time, the adamantium on the purple dragon's body started shimmering brightly before becoming extendible as the spears, which pierced and rippled through the air around them throughout the Dragon Time sequence, penetrated in half upon contact with the hardened mineral while a couple of them missed Blade by a fair inch…some of the projectiles accidently coming into contact with a few unlucky apes on the opposite side, killing them instantly.

As soon as Blade landed in a forward roll, the effect of Dragon Time has worn off while the adamantium was quick to revert back to its original position on the purple dragon's body in order to avoid any infliction on the body.

As the purple dragon regained himself from the roll, he quickly surveyed his body to find that, to his relief, he hasn't inflicted any damage to himself from the spikes upon that action.

Then, he looked forward upon noticing an array of five small apes advancing ominously towards him from the front as well as noticing, from the corner of his eye, five more advancing from behind him.

Stern determination was visible in Blade's eyes as he came to thought on his situation.

'_Okay, Blade, how do we get out of this one?_' His thoughts questioned.

* * *

From the hatch entrance, Dawn and Sparx watched the activity with expressions of surprising, yet stunning awe on their faces upon what they were witnessing.

"Uh, h-he impaled an ape with some kind of ice spike and deflected those spears with some kind of silvery thing extending from his body. How in the world is that even possible?"

Sparx shook his head in uncertainty, yet he provided her with an answer.

"Well, he did say something about getting these skills from a dream. Other than that, I'm not really sure."

Regardless of their expressions, they both kept watch while Dawn was anxiously aware of the advancing apes surrounding the purple dragon.

"Blade, be careful." She spoke.

* * *

Meanwhile, with determination etched on his face and his intimidation in check, Blade kept his stand while trying his best to keep his eyes on the surroundings apes. During that time, he took note of his mid-distances towards the pulsating crystals, yet, to his surprise, his energy wasn't depleted from his bodily form.

But regardless of his expression, his anticipation piqued on this situation.

'_I think I'm immune_.' His thoughts spoke.

Yet, he wasn't sure. But he was willing to find out as he droned his gaze to the apes in the front. Then, he noticed a single pulsating crystal behind the array of apes from in front of him. That became his first target, yet he has the small apes to get by first.

Suddenly, an idea formed into the fabric of Blade's mind. But in order for this to happen, he would have to time this maneuver at the precise moment. One mistake would put him in a dog pile of apes.

A split second later, the five apes in the front lunged forward towards the purple dragon's position followed by the apes in the back.

Blade immediately noticed, crouched down on all four, and lunged underneath the five apes in the front line shortly before they came in collision with the five apes in the back line.

As the ten apes grew dazed in a pile, Blade issued a forward roll-up and regained himself before sprinting towards the single crystal. As soon as he did, he immediately used his golden horns, with the adamantine in use, to penetrate the crystalline object.

Blade almost expected his energy to be depleted upon his actions, yet he was still standing.

And to this anticipation, a smirk plastered on his face. It would appear that these crystals would not be a problem after all.

Then, the purple dragon took a sharp head turn to the left upon noticing a large ape positioned next to him with a sword raised over his head to issue his kill while noticing a second one to his right mirroring the previous ape's action.

With his intimidation in check, Blade diverted his determined gaze forward.

'_Here goes the risk_.' His thoughts spoke before he shut his eyes.

As soon as the apes swung their swords down towards the purple dragon, time virtually slows as their weapons came in contact with something hard that seems to be extendible from the golden horns, that shortly took the color of silver, of the purple dragon.

Then, suddenly, the swords from both sides penetrated in two upon harsh contact with the hardened minerals of adamantine before time reverted to normal.

As the horns quickly retracted back to its original position and color, the apes took note of their broken weaponry as well as the broken shards on the ground, but before they knew what was happening, both apes issued a grunt of pain upon something sharp entering their midsection.

As both apes surveyed each other's injuries, they found, to their shock, that a silvery object has entered their midsection, unleashing their life fluids along the way.

But the greater shock was that these objects were emanating from the purple dragon that's positioned in the middle of them.

With painful gags issuing from their maw, both apes' fell flat on their backs in a motionless state shortly before the purple dragon opened his eyes.

Ignoring the corpses' from either side, Blade turned around towards the party of apes positioned next to an array of crystals.

The apes, small and large, grew in startled shock upon what they have witnessed moments ago, which posed a question to mind.

_What kind of purple dragon is this_?

The answer grew in silence, yet the apes weren't going to let anyone ruin an elaborate plan as Blade looked towards the two large crystals and noticed an active portal followed by the re-spawning of two identical large apes.

To this indication, Blade knew what he has to do. In order to stop the re-spawning, he would have to destroy the large crystals. But the apes will do everything in their power to keep that from happening, so he'll have to go through them as well.

With determination etched on his face, Blade sprinted in the direction of the apes that guards the crystals while the opposing parties followed suit towards the purple dragon with weapons in hand.

Blade charged on against an array of small apes, using his horn as a battering ram to volley them aside while knocking a single small ape into the air, blood splattering from a possible injury inflicted on the ape upon the purple dragon's actions.

As the small ape collided with the ground, snapping its neck in the process, Blade hastily proceeded in penetrating a single large crystal by use of his horn with the adamantine in effect.

Before he resumed, he sharply noticed the ten small apes that he took out before were heading towards his position.

With his fore claws planted to the soil and his fangs bared, Blade opened his maw and unleashed a roaring flame attack, which engulfed the ten apes upon contact.

As they ran about, screaming in agonizing pain from the burning sensation of the attack while momentarily becoming a pile of deceased crispy corpses, Blade proceeded to the next crystal only to halt his stand upon noticing three large sword-wielding armor-clad apes dashing towards his position.

Switching his attack pattern, Blade opened his maw and unleashed his Ice Spike attack towards the opposing apes.

As the single icy stalactite soared against the air at breaking speed, time virtually slowed before the projectile penetrated in three.

Time reverted to normal before each ice projectiles collided with the three apes, breaching clean through the vital areas on the left side of their necks while blood sprayed from their injuries.

The apes staggered and grunted painfully while applying pressure to their wounds, yet it grew in vain as they slowly started to lower to the ground and fall to their demise.

Blade, meanwhile, raced towards the remaining large crystals, taking out the small crystals and opposing re-spawning apes along the way.

Two…Three…Four…Five...Six...Seven large crystals were destroyed as well as the remaining small ones, which resulted in the deactivation of the force field that surrounded the island, as Blade was panting heavily from the work while his back was to the bloody carnage of the apes left in his wake.

Their blood not only stained the ground, but also on Blade's horns as well, yet the purple dragon paid it no heed as he took a reprieve of breath before noticing Dawn and Sparx making their exit from the hatch and approaching his position since the force field is deactivated.

With a soft smile of content, Blade started to approach towards their position, but halted upon, not only noticing Dawn and Sparx's sudden halt in movement, but also hearing a growling noise directly behind him while his expression slowly diverted to one of shock and fear.

From his position, he craned his head around to find a lone large ape bracing his injured blood-gushing neck from the earlier attack and approaching limply towards the purple dragon.

An expression of boiling anger masked the ape's eyes as he looked down to the purple dragon while Dawn and Sparx took note of this with a hint of timid-ness.

The ape reached down and grasped a curved sword from the ground of its fallen comrade before approaching further towards the purple dragon.

Fear overtook the purple dragon. He thought this ape was dead along with the other two, yet it was still standing and approaching ominously in his direction. Regardless, courage slowly seeped into his very being.

However, before anything else could happen, Blade flinched in surprise upon noticing a single arrow lodged through the ape's maw to the back of its head.

Blood pulsated from the injury before the ape fell to its back on the soil motionless.

Perplex masked the purple dragon's eyes as he turned to find, to his relief, the sight of Wind positioned at Dawn and Sparx's side with his crossbow in his left paw while slowly lowering his aim from position.

Afterwards, the cheetah directed his gaze down to the purple dragon with an expression of disapproval in his orbs due to Blade's actions.

Blade took note of this, yet held his ground and awaited the lecture.

"I see you have unheeded my warnings, purple dragon."

Blade felt an ounce of shame in his being, yet kept his determination intact as Wind surveyed the carnage before him.

Then, his expression of disapproval changed to one of impressiveness as he nodded with a smile before directing his attention to Blade.

"But I guess that goes to show that I know little about you. Well done." He complimented.

With a smile in kind, Blade made his approach towards them while the carnage lies upon the soil of the island.

* * *

_**I'm back!! And starting the year of 2009 to catch up with this story after a successful finish with my prequel to Together. Months ago, I had this done and was preparing the chapter after this. But due to floppy disk failure on another computer, it was deleted. Luckily, I had memory of where the story was going and I improvised along the way. I don't know if it's quite the chapter I was expecting to write, but it veers close to that category**_.  
_**  
I'm still looking for an ace poet writer as a request for a one-shot poetry based upon my prequel To Live Together, Die Together. But I'm not one to press any further into this on anyone when you have your own stuff to deal with. So I apologize. Anyway, keep on the lookout for more. Ciao**_!

Next chap: _Ignitus gets reacquainted with someone from his past; Dawn makes a stand with Blade_.


	15. Old Friend

Chapter Fourteen: **"Old Friend"  
**

**

* * *

**

_Gasp_.

With his maw slightly ajar, Ignitus' eyes shot open in his awakening as he, while panting softly, started surveying his surroundings to find that he was in an isolated chamber and was bound by strong steel chains and braces from his neck down to his hind legs.

Then, he noticed two dark markings—which resembled dragon horns--on his chest where the bolt of a harpoon managed to breach, which left his mind in wonder. He thought he was dead, yet he was still alive and in this place. Why?

He didn't know. Then, another question entered his thoughts. Who would warrant an unprovoked attack upon their village? And what of his brothers? These were valid questions, yet his answer grew in silence.

Momentarily, he tried struggling to free himself from his shackles, yet lacked the strength to do so at the time to break through such strong forged alloys. However, before he could resume any further, he halted upon the sound of the doorknob twisting from the other side.

Ignitus' attention diverted forward as the metallic door opened with a loud creak, providing entrance of someone that the fire guardian instantly recognized. It was someone that he thought was in exile for his sins in the past, never to be seen again.

His eyes widened in disbelief upon this sight, yet his eyes betrayed him while his expression slowly switched to one of disdain and contempt.

"Flaron." He spoke.

Clad in dark garment robing, Flaron turned around to face the fire guardian with a sinister smile masking his face.

"Ah, you are awake and my, you've aged. And it also seems that you remember my name, old friend. And to think that after all these years, I thought that you and your brothers have forgotten."

In silence, Ignitus took the time to observe the dragon's facial feature and, although he seemed slightly younger, could tell that he has aged as well. Regardless, he kept his glare to the dark robed dragon.

"You should be forgotten after what you have done in the recent past, _old friend_. Allying yourself with our enemy and persuading half of the council members to abide by your biddings." He spoke as Flaron's smile slowly diverted to a frown due to reminders of the past.

Regardless of his expression, he spoke on the matter.

"And I can assume you know why that is."

Almost immediately, Ignitus, who sighed in frustration, took anticipation to Flaron's implications.

"Oh, great ancestors. Flaron, we were all tested for those trials to see who becomes fit to bare the titles of elemental guardians in the war. It was fair game."

"A win-lose fair game?" He questioned, and then shook his head. "Not to me."

"One thing that an elder learns is that to never let greed or power cloud you, yet you have chosen to do just that, which resulted in deterring your own fate."

"Silence." Flaron spoke, his expression hardening upon the reminder.

"Greed is no way to gain power, Flaron. Nothing good ever comes of it." Ignitus spoke in his attempt at reasoning with him.

Instantly, Flaron applied a back paw to the fire guardian' left cheek as Ignitus, whose face was diverted to the right side and was contorted from the attack, grunted painfully upon contact.

"I said, silence!" Flaron snarled viciously as Ignitus slowly returned his glaring attention towards him.

Flaron took note of this and eased his expression a bit.

"Now, if you don't mind, I would like to divert our attention from the past towards the present."

"Very well."

"And I am to assume that you have questions for me?"

"I do. Am I to assume that you are the one held responsible for the attack on our village land?"

Silence issued from Flaron as he spoke, his expression devoid of emotion at this moment.

"Yes."

"Why?!" Ignitus snarled. "Why attack your own kind? And why, by use of dark magic, bring forth that…dragon hunter who has slaughter many, some aforementioned, including two who were like a son and daughter to me?!"

Flaron's expression remained emotionless upon Ignitus' assertive remarks, yet provided no response as the fire guardian, upon note of his silence, managed to figure it out upon recognition of their earlier arguments of the past, which disgusted him to no end.

Upon seeing the fire guardian's expression, Flaron provided an evil smirk on his face.

"I take it you've figured it out, old friend. And if you're wondering where your brothers are, you needn't worry. They are well, for the time being." He spoke before his evil smirk widened another length as he issued a gesture towards the fire guardian's chest where the dark markings were etched. "And I do mean, for the time being."

With an evil chuckle escaping his maw, Flaron made his leave from the room while Ignitus, who momentarily snarled angrily upon the comment, started vainly struggling against his binds.

And as soon as the door closed shut, Ignitus ceased his struggle and, after a while of heavy breathing and staring forward at the door, slowly lowered his head while softly issuing a prayer to the heavens to protect the inhabitants of their realms, as well as his brothers, from the dark forces.

* * *

Meanwhile, at approximately the same hour, Wind was in the process of dragging the deceased, bloodied corpses of apes to the depth of the oceans, their blood staining and trailing on the soil during the task.

Blade, who seems strangely undeterred by the deceased corpses, provided the help by the use of his maw since he wasn't strong enough to do it by his paws while Dawn, although with slight discomfort, followed suit alongside him, both dragons momentarily spitting the disgusting taste of dead flesh from their maws after they were done.

Sparx observed the scenery, yet grew strongly disgusted by the putrid stench of the bodies. So much that he practically gagged into his mouth, yet managed to swallow it back down his throat and resumed observation.

During the task, however, Wind wasted little time in questioning the purple bluish dragon on his motives for this incident and Blade, who long since cleansed himself of the blood stained on his horns from the battle, provided his clear elaboration just as he has told Dawn and Sparx, keeping in secret the three entities' equal role in this, on the recent dreams, the training, and the abilities that he has obtained as a result of that.

During the explanation, they managed to get at least a dozen or so of the deceased apes, including the small ones, into the ocean while the bodies, to their unawareness, were disintegrating into black mist.

After the purple dragon was done, Wind's expression grew stunned in slight disbelief upon the explanation, yet provided an impressive nod due to what he observed earlier upon Blade's actions.

"Whoa. That must've been some dream to cause all of this. What surprises me is how come you weren't drained of your energy while that field was up."

"Yeah, I'm immune to the effects. I don't know how. I have a hunch, but I don't know."

Wind nodded.

"Oh. Well—"

"Listen, my mother and the elders are alive." Blade interjected, bluntly

Almost instantly, both Dawn and Sparx grew in startled surprise upon this revelation.

"Wha—They are?" Dawn questioned.

Blade nodded in response.

"Wait a minute, but how--?"

"Please don't ask, Sparx."

"Well, where are they?" He asked instead.

In saddened, yet hesitant silence with his gaze slightly diverted downward, Blade shook his head.

"I don't know." He spoke softly as both Dawn and Sparx diverted their gazes downward in discouragement upon this. "But there's something else."

Both Dawn and Sparx returned their attention to him while Wind resumed listening without interruption.

Then, the purple bluish dragon momentarily came to gaze with them and got on the subject of whom they were dealing with and why before coming to the subject of the three locations that they have to travel to that involves taking care of another number of crystals that drains the land.

After he was done, silence surrounded them all before Wind spoke while the other's attention droned to the young archer.

"So wait a minute. You're telling me that this island isn't the only place for those crystals to make contact with?"

Blade nodded his head in response.

"And you're saying that there are a few other places with this problem?"

Blade nodded.

"And you're attempting to travel down to these places to put a stop to them…by yourself?"

"Uh, yes, and no."

"Meaning…"

"Yes, to the crystals, and no, I'm not going in alone, because you guys are coming with me."

An expression of doubt etched on the young archer's face upon this.

"Really?"

Blade nodded.

"Mm-hmm."

"So I'm to assume that you're going to fly to these places learning what you know now."

Blade nodded.

"Among other things, yes…and if you're worried about Sparx, no need. He can fly, too."

"And her?" Wind asked while gesturing to Dawn.

In silence, Blade diverted his attention slightly downward in thought. It was clear to the purple dragon that Wind has reference to Dawn's flight capabilities. And since he subconsciously managed to carry her to this island by use of flight, there was no guarantee that the same incident will transpire again, especially when he doesn't have the required strength to carry her during flight at this time.

Then, a sudden thought intruded onto the purple dragon's mind as Dawn stole a glance in his direction in silence, yet her mind pondered to his thoughts.

"She can't fly." He answered after a while of silence before applying his stern attention to Wind. "That's why I'm going to teach her."

"What?" Wind questioned, his expression etched in surprise.

"What?" Sparx followed.

"What?" Dawn also questioned, her facial feature masked with the same expression directed towards the purple bluish dragon.

Blade applied his attention to Dawn with a smile to his face.

"I'm going to teach you to fly. Not only that, but since you're going along on this little adventure, I'm going to teach you how to master your own breath attack."

Dawn's eyes shifted and her expression etched with uncertainty upon this before Wind spoke.

"Wait a minute, y-you're deciding this now? Especially when we're on a timetable?"

Blade, at the moment, saw the expression on Dawn's face before applying his attention to Wind with a nod.

"Yeah. Listen, you have a boat or a canoe or something to ride the waters?"

Wind nodded.

"Uh, something like that, yeah. But it'll take some time to get it around to the front shore judging by the currents."

"Okay, get it ready. We'll meet you back here in a matter of minutes."

Wind nodded in response as Blade turned to Sparx, whose expression grew of disbelief upon what he was hearing up to this point.

"Hold on, Spiky...are you actually going to teach her how to fly and shoot things out of her face? I mean, yeah, it's generous of you to do so, but--"

"Sparx, Sparx," He intervened. "If you're worried about the timetable, too, do not worry. Okay? We will make time. Now listen, stay here with Wind, all right? We'll be right back."

Although slightly hesitant, Sparx nodded in response as both Blade and Dawn paddled away in the other direction.

* * *

Few minutes came to pass as Blade and Dawn managed to find an empty clearing area not far from their originated checkpoint.

There, they sat on their haunches as Dawn's attention was downcast with discomfort and worry to Blade's acknowledgement.

"Blade, are you sure about this?" Dawn asked.

"About the training?" He questioned before nodding. "Yes. So there's no need to worry."

"And what about bringing me along?"

In silence with his expression slowly masked with concern upon the second question, Blade diverted his pupils to the side a bit in deep mental debate for a matter of seconds.

In truth, he wasn't sure if he should bring her along on this mission with them due to the dangers that are involved, especially after what she has witnessed with him and the apes moments ago on the surface of the island. Seeing that what those apes were capable of, the thought of even bringing her along terrified him. He didn't want anything to happen to her on this mission. She was, after all, the adoptive niece of Flame and Ember, and, of course, his best friend. If she were to get hurt on this trip, it would mortify them, including him, greatly.

Therefore, he mentally made his decision before applying his attention back to Dawn, who long since droned her observant attention to him.

"Look, Dawn…I don't want to leave you here on this island. And I certainly don't want anything to happen to you. So I'm willing to teach you what I know if any of us came across any—"

"So are you going alone?" She interrupted.

The sudden question from her came of a slight startle for the purple bluish dragon as a deep breath exhaled from his maw. It was apparent by her observing eyes that she read his face, which lead to the question.

At the moment, silence was his response as the deep concern for her well being shrouds in his veins with a mixture of intimidation.

"I have to. Dawn, you saw just how dangerous these guys were from the hatch entrance. I would've been dead if it weren't for these." He spoke while gesturing his head, indicating to Dawn of the curved spikes on his forearms, to which the dragoness took acknowledgment of as the purple dragon resumed. "Plus, I'm afraid that if something did happen to you like it did my mother, I…"

But Blade stopped and closed his eyes firmly while trying to keep his tears at bay. He couldn't continue from there. He couldn't picture Dawn being in that same predicament that has befallen his mother.

Dawn, at the moment, diverted her attention to the side while contemplating on this scenario. True, she did saw what happened at the entrance. And it was also true that she saw what has happened to his mother right in front of her, a horrifying sight that she hoped to erase from the fabric of her memories until the end of time. But deep down, she knew where she stood with this. She wanted to help Blade on this adventure, help him rescue the guardians and his mother -- who her purple friend stated moments ago was still alive -- stop these dark forces, and bring peace back to the lands again.

She also knew that Blade felt that way, too. Otherwise, he wouldn't be here teaching her what he knows now. Therefore, she has made her decision as her expression grew of stern determination before she applied her attention to the purple bluish dragon.

"Blade?" She spoke, gaining the purple dragon's attention. "I would like to come with you."

Blade shook his head in an effort to protest to the idea before Dawn intervened.

"Blade, I know of the dangers ahead and I _know_ you do not want to relive that scenery that you saw at the end of that cliff with your mother. Ancestors know I don't. And reasons like that compel you to teach me to fly so I can be able to go back to the village into the embrace of Aunt Ember and Uncle Flame for my own protection, right?"

In silence, Blade provided a slight nod in response, to which the dragoness suspected as she nodded and resumed.

"Listen, Blade, you are my friend, and I-I care about you a lot…so much that I am willing to fight by your side. Isn't that another reason why you're teaching me how to use a breath attack?"

Although flattered by her comment and pretty much in admittance to what was said by him before, Blade couldn't diminish the fear and worry from his being.

"But Dawn—" He started before she interjected.

"You don't want anything to happen to me, right? That's exactly the way I feel about you. But we can protect each other. And besides…" She halted and did a head gesture to indicate the purple dragon's curved spikes on his forearms. "You said it yourself that you would've been dead if it weren't for those. In a way, from what I saw, they protected you. And what protects you can somehow protect us, right?"

In silence, Blade's expression grew stunned by her words. She was right. And thinking back to his battle with the apes, he, regardless of the enemies' bloodstains on his horns, came out of that without a scratch by use of the adamants on his body. And if that were to happen for him, maybe he's liable to protect them as well.

"You're right." He spoke with a scoff escaping his breath and a soft smile etched on his face. "You're absolutely right. We _can _protect each other."

Dawn provided a smile in return.

"So…I can come?"

Blade nodded.

"Yeah." He spoke, then his smile diverted to a straight position upon a thought that occurred to him. "Wait a minute, what about Aunt Ember and Uncle Flame? I mean, won't they disapprove of this considering what has happened at the village yesterday?"

"You let me worry about them, okay?"

Although hesitant, Blade nodded.

"Okay."

With her smile intact, Dawn padded ahead of Blade, who suddenly issued a slight shiver upon her tail unexpectedly coming in contact with his purple bluish scales, which became a complete startle to him.

Dawn halted a few feet away and craned her head to see that he hasn't moved.

"Blade, you all right?" She spoke out of concern.

Blade shook from his startle and applied his attention to her.

"Um, uh, yeah, I'm fine." He said before clearing his throat and resuming while Dawn saw the slight blushes in his cheeks, which placed her mind in wonder. "It's just that you, uh, brushed your tail up against my scales. I got kind of ticklish from the contact."

In silence with a snicker of embarrassment escaping her maw upon that factual comment, Dawn spoke in stutters.

"Oh! Sorry about that. I didn't-I didn't know it was-I mean, I felt something, but--"

Blade shook his head.

"Yeah, no, it's all right. Let's uh, let's just get this over with, shall we?"

Dawn nodded in response as Blade took his position and commenced to the training of flight and breath attack to his dragoness friend, thoughts of the awkward incident escaping the two dragon's minds from this very point.

* * *

_**Sorry, it took me a while. I had real world business to attend to as well as trying to get this story back on track and in order.**_

**_Well, it looks like Dawn made her firm stand with Blade and is joining the fray. I wonder what Flame and Ember would think considering the dangers involved. Plus, was that a brief fluff I just made between the two dragons or was it something else? One could be left to wonder. Heh, Heh. Keep on the lookout for more. Ciao_**!

Next chap: _Blade, Dawn, Sparx, and their new traveling companion, Wind, makes their return to the dragon village upon hostile grounds_.


	16. Traverse to the Dragon Village

Chapter Fifteen: **Traverse To The Dragon Village  
**

**

* * *

**

(**Sixty Minutes Later**)

"WHOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!" Dawn cheered out as the surrounding air rushed around her slender, yet elegant form along with her gliding wings.

It has taken a while over the course of sixty minutes, but Blade managed to successfully teach Dawn the ways of flight and her breath attack, which was fire judging by the shape of her tail-tip.

Recently, during the first training at the cliff, the uneasy dragoness nearly pummeled down to the ocean on her first try had it not been for the purple dragon's aid. But by the second try, Blade provided a demonstration to her and, as minutes passed, Dawn managed to accomplish that goal where the only flaw at this point was the landing.

Blade, however, managed an opportunity to perfect his landing after a few tryouts and taught that technique to Dawn as well. It was only a short while before she managed to get the hang of it.

Afterwards, they went to the issue of combat and since there were no ape dummies anywhere on the island for this training, Blade, to Dawn's discomfort, has volunteered for the task, keeping the adamantine thorns on his body out of the equation for a fair ordeal.

It took seconds of convincing, but Dawn eventually decided to give it a try. And when she managed, with slight difficulty, to get the hang of the practice, Blade has decided on a simple spar against her to test those agile skills, once again keeping the adamantine on his body out of play for a fair duel, but using it momentarily for defensive purposes.

It took seconds, possibly minutes of simple motivation and courage, but Dawn, although with slight difficulty when it comes to sparring against the purple dragon, managed to perfect this training, even though both were fairly matched.

Next up came the task of her breath attack. It wasn't as much difficult as the flight training, but it was worth the try.

During this part of the breath attack training, Dawn questioned Blade on how she could be able to breathe ice from her maw, to which the purple dragon acknowledged that she had reference back at the battle with the apes.

Unfortunately, he concluded that she wouldn't be able to master the use of ice due to a well-known fact given to him by Ignitus recently on the issue of being a purple dragon in order to accomplish that very goal.

To this news, Dawn felt discouraged, yet her expression slightly brightened with a clear sign of optimism as she figured that since she's a fire dragon, one breath attack was enough for her.

The training resumed until she was finally able to the master the art of the flame breath as well as perfect the art of combat. And had it not been for the fact that they were on a timetable, Blade would've been able to teach her the second technique of the flame breath attack.

But one technique was enough for her at this point.

Now she was soaring through the graceful, yet darkened skies, enjoying the adrenaline rushing effect of flight with Blade and Sparx by her side while Wind, having had difficulties trying to get an automated boat around the island due to the ocean current, was trailing behind on their traverse to the Dragon Village.

* * *

The Dragon Village came into their far-off view moments later. However, upon closer inspection, they discovered, to their terrifying awe, that the village was surrounded by an energy-sapping force field – the same one that entrapped the island, only larger in size.

Within the force field were a number of small and large pulsating crystals embedded into the soil of the village as well as small and large armored apes guarding the area, including the temple.

Without a word, Blade, Dawn, and Sparx resumed their advancement as they flapped their wings to slow their movement to a hover before landing softly, with the exception of the dragonfly, on the remaining section of the cliff's edge just a couple of feet in front of the force field.

Both dragons including Sparx turned around to look down from the edge to the ocean where Wind was waving to gain their attention while steering the boat towards a nearby shore about a distance away.

"I'm heading towards that shore in the distance!!" He spoke loud enough for them to hear against the ocean's current. "You deal with the force field!!"

Blade nodded.

"Okay!!"

As Wind steered his boat to his destination, Blade, Dawn, and Sparx turned back around before heading towards the force field.

However, only Dawn and Sparx managed to advance forward, and by the time they realized that, they turned around to find Blade standing there and looking sternly down to the soil at what he believes to be dried blood that was only a day old.

While Dawn and Sparx pondered on the purple dragon's stature with a measure of concern, Blade's stern gaze stayed to the soil.

Then, his expression hardened upon an image that haunts his mind: The image of his mother falling victim to a long extended stalactite plunged against her midsection and her blood splashing right in front of them.

That dried blood still remained on the soil to this day as the purple dragon's expression tensed up with inner anger within him. Yet, he managed to breath from his nostrils in a measure of calm upon acknowledgment to his objective at this point and a clear remainder that his mother was still alive as Dawn and Sparx advanced slowly towards his position.

"Blade? You all right?" She asked before halting her stop with the dragonfly following suit a second later.

Blade grew silence for a while before loosening his expression and diverting his attention to Dawn and Sparx.

"I'm fine. Come on, let's go."

As he waltzed passed them towards the force field, both the dragoness and the dragonfly stood there for a moment with concern masked on their features towards the purple dragon. Yet, sadness replaced that expression, as they knew where his state of mind was at the moment: The thoughts of his mother and what has transpired on this very cliff.

Regardless of what they knew now, that image seems to have haunted their minds to no end. Yet, young Blade was the main one to suffer through that, which was the reason why he chose to have Dawn remain safe by his adoptive aunt and uncle's side.

But Dawn put out a very good point. If Blade could survive a horde of apes without a scratch with his adamantine spikes as his protection, maybe they could survive as well

It was for that reason that the purple dragon decided to take her along on his journey: To protect her, to protect them from danger.

With that clear thought in mind, Dawn and Sparx approached towards and halted on either sides of Blade's position as he remained still, observing the scenery in front of him; the dragoness and dragonfly following suit seconds later.

As seconds passed, Dawn took the time to observe the force field. Her curiosity piqued, she slowly lifted her right paw in her attempt to brace it against the field.

Yet, Blade managed to gently halt her from that attempt by use of his left paw just seconds before she came in contact with it as the dragoness applied her gaze to him.

"Don't." Blade spoke with the shake of his head. "It'll drain you."

Dawn managed to relax her paw down to the soil, yet felt she should provided a mental slap to her face upon forgetting about the field, especially when Wind more or less mentioned this to them.

"Sorry." She apologized. "It's just that with the training and all—"

"Dawn, Dawn…" Blade interrupted. "You don't have to apologize. It's common for those to forget things when they're occupied with something else."

"Like the training?"

Blade nodded.

"Yeah, something like that."

As they diverted and stayed their attention forward back to the ongoing activity, Dawn came upon a question that was recently on her mind.

"Blade, back at the island, you said you were immune to the crystals and the field."

"I recall saying."

"Just curious, but, um, what's the hunch that you mentioned?"

In long silence, shifting his gaze downward in pondering thought, Blade provided his attention back to the activity after a fraction of a second before speaking.

"Well, I think it has something to do with these on my body."

Dawn turned and observed the silver thorns on his body, including the curved ones on his forearms.

"But it's like I said…" Blade spoke again, which issued the dragoness' attention. "It's just a hunch."

With a slight nod, Dawn turned her attention back to the activity ahead.

"So, uh, since you have no problem going in there, how are we – Sparx and I -- going to get in there?"

In response to her comment, the purple dragon slowly diverted his attention downward. It was a very valid question, one that young Blade hasn't pretty much considered yet, which left his mind in confusion.

"I…" He started to say.

Then, to his puzzlement, a sudden thought entered his mind. He didn't know whether it was the heavens bestowing this knowledge upon him or what, but it was an idea that's worth trying out.

Dawn saw the puzzled expression on his face.

"What?"

Without a word, Blade looked down toward the forearms of the dragoness and softly placed his left paw to her right forearm.

Afterwards, he looked Dawn, who grew momentarily puzzled by this action, in the eye and spoke in reassurance.

"This is going to feel a little weird, so brace yourself."

Dawn wasn't sure what to make of this. Regardless, she nodded in response as Blade looked down to his paw with a stern hardened gaze in his attempt to concentrate while the dragoness watched.

Sparx, having long since realized the hesitation of this, flew over to them in his attempt to issue his complaint on the matter before he discovered what was happening. Yet, didn't say a word unless needed in hopes to not avert the purple dragon's concentration.

Suddenly, Dawn flinched in pain as she felt one of Blade's shimmering silver fingernails slightly extended, stabbed her forearm, and creating a wound.

With the nail in place of the wound, she saw, to her shocking awe, that the nail was rippling like water and slowly transferring itself down through the wound into her bloodstream while the purple dragon withdrew his paw from her forearm, yet kept his concentrating gaze intact to her arm.

As a result, the wound grew healed, closing up as if it was never there, and the process was done.

Then, Blade broke his gaze and started breathing heavily from the somewhat difficult task as Dawn grew stunned by what she just witnessed, including Sparx, who wasted little time in questioning the purple dragon on the incident.

"What did you just do?" He asked.

Swallowing saliva, Blade slowed his breathing down and spoke.

"To tell you the truth, I'm not sure. But if I'm right, these spikes on my body provide me immunity to the field and the crystals. And since I transferred it to Dawn, it should protect her from the field, too."

"Really?" Dawn answered, yet a bit uncertain by this.

"I hope so. And just in case you come across a crystal, small or large, here."

Blade braced one of his horns against Dawn's before concentrating yet again.

His golden horns took on a silver color before the same rippling effect entered onto both of Dawn's horns as well, changing it from a beautiful crimson pink to whitish silver. After the process was done, Blade issued a reprieve of breath for a while.

In silent awe, Dawn marveled at the color before setting her gaze to Blade, who issued a smile to his face.

"I could use the helping hand." He said, which provided a smile from her in response. "You ready?"

Dawn nodded and before they could advance, they halted due to Sparx's hovering form in Blade's face.

"Hey, what about me?" He asked as the purple dragon kept his smile.

"Get under my left wing, Sparx." He spoke with a gesture of his head to his wings.

With a smile, Sparx complied and flew under his left wing.

Automatically, one of Blade's silver thorns on his back extended to provide cover for the dragonfly as Sparx clung to the membrane of the purple dragon's wing, being careful not to grasp too hard to cause any pain.

"Secured, Sparx?" Blade asked.

"All good." The dragonfly answered.

Blade looked to Dawn, who returned the gesture in kind.

"How about you? You ready?"

Dawn issued a curt nod.

"Yeah." She responded.

Then, both dragons diverted their attention forward with strong determined expressions on their faces.

Slowly crouching with their tails swaying in determination, both dragons dashed forward through the force field, immediately using their horns to penetrate two large crystals in their way.

It was that action alone that confirmed Blade's theory that he was indeed immune by the adamantine on his body, thus providing protection for himself as well as Dawn from the crystals' effects.

Immediately following that action, Blade and Dawn resumed their race from the cliff area, decimating a number of small crystals along the way.

Momentarily, Blade would rely on the silver adamants on his forearms to provide most of the help as the two dragons eventually made their way from the cliff area to the large clearing where the large hill was located that leads up towards the entry gate of the village and the temple.

They halted their stop when they found that four to six large crystals including a number of small ones were embedded into the soil of the clearing.

But what caught their alerting eyes were the small and large apes guarding the crystals that wielded weapons from swords to battering clubs.

Needless to say, it wasn't long before the apes noticed their presence from their post as they grunted in alert and dashed towards the two dragon's position.

During this time, Blade managed to steal a glance in the right direction towards the shore area to find Wind's boat positioned there, including the archer himself standing outside of the field in wait.

"Dawn, the large crystals are our priority." Blade spoke, his attention quickly diverted from Wind's direction towards the array of apes advancing towards them. "You take one side, and I take the other. After that, we go to the shore spot where Wind is waiting."

"Once we're done here, it won't be enough to deactivate the field. You planning to give him the same treatment as me?" She asked without straying her attention away from the advancing apes, yet managed a glance in the shore's direction for a moment to catch sight of the young archer.

"That's the plan. You ready?"

Dawn nodded.

"I'm ready."

"Let's go!"

Without another word, both dragons sprinted separately towards their own hostile battleground – Blade to the left and Dawn to the right.

* * *

Blade could feel his rapid heart beat as he raced on all four towards the array of apes.

Suddenly, four small apes intercepted him from the front, immediately took aim of their arm gauntlets and fired javelin spears in the purple dragon's direction.

Fortunately, Blade managed to see it coming before taking a daring leap in mid-air while the pupils on his eyes miniaturized, which suddenly commenced the Dragon Time sequence.

Time slowed to its extent in the surrounding areas. The slow beats of Blade's heart were the only sound deafening the barrier at the moment.

During this Dragon Time sequence, as Blade was soaring about half way in mid-air, his beating wings supporting him along the way, the four javelin projectiles have missed its mark, impaling into the soil.

The four small apes managed to catch sight of the airborne purple dragon and started to divert their aim to their intended target.

They were only halfway at making their aim before Blade opened his maw, unleashing his seemingly explosive Twin Fireball Attack.

The two fiery projectiles soared towards its target against the air and time itself as the four apes started to aim and attempted to fire their projectiles while the purple dragon made his descent forward to the ground.

Unfortunately, two of the apes didn't get much of a chance as they felt the impact of the two projectiles colliding against their bodily form, sending them soaring off their feet in mid-air, shredding their armor piece-by-piece, and setting them ablaze.

The slow, agonizing screams of the two small apes echoed throughout the air, which caught the other two apes' attention.

As their attention was averted, Blade landed to the ground on all four...right in front of the two remaining apes before the Dragon Time sequence ceased.

The sudden footfall has caught the two apes perplex attention towards a stern, hardened looking purple dragon.

Yet, before they could apply their aim, Blade unleashed his Ice Blast attack, freezing them in place before applying his horns to shatter them to pieces, their blood splattering in the process.

Afterwards, the purple dragon advanced along towards the large crystals, racing passed the charred remains of the deceased small apes along the way.

But he halted only halfway there when he saw a large growling ape standing before him with a battering club in hand, the ape's arm in the position to strike.

The ape quickly took a mighty downward swing before Blade managed to evade by rolling his body to the left side while the club collided with the ground soil, kicking up debris in the process and missing the mark.

As Blade stood up from his crouching position, he took a glance and noticed the large crystal about a couple of feet away followed by a second one. Then, his attention was averted to the large ape, whose shadow mounted around his young feature, preparing for another strike of the club.

Wasting little time, Blade unleashed another wave of his Ice Blast attack. The effect of the attack wasn't strong enough to freeze the large brute, but it literally slows his movements down long enough for the purple dragon to make his way towards the large crystal.

As soon as he got there, Blade applied his horns to the crystal, shattering it to pieces before looking back to find that the effect of the ice blast has worn off and the large ape was heading for him.

With a deep breath, Blade raced towards his opponent in hopes to finish him off and deal with the second crystal.

* * *

Having had her share of small apes by use of her new fire breath attack and combat techniques that she recently learned, Dawn managed to work her way up towards the position of a single large ape before she could make her way to the crystal.

The large ape wielded a sword that struck down towards her at an instant notice.

Dawn managed to avoid the attack by strafing to the left, causing the sword to strike the soil, kicking up debris.

The strike of the sword was hard enough to have the sharp edge of the weapon impaled to the ground. And while the ape was trying, with difficulty, to remove his weapon from that area, Dawn used the distraction to dash over to the large crystal and applied her horns to shatter it to pieces.

That was two down, and four more to go.

Afterwards, she turned her attention back to the large ape that was already dashing towards her position with the weapon in hand.

As soon as the ape was inches from her position, Dawn opened her maw and unleashed a devastating flame breath attack.

The large ape screamed in pain from the burning sensation of the attack while the brute's armor started shattering one piece at a time as a result.

While that was happening, Dawn worked on getting rid of the small crystals in the way while taking out a number of small apes at the same time by use of close quarter combat such as tail whip, horn, and bite attacks.

As soon as she was done, she, while breathing heavily from the work, looked back towards the large ape to find that the hostile was charred and motionless. Then, by a glance, she noticed an active portal near a large crystal where another large ape re-spawned in place with a weapon in hand.

Without a word, Dawn made a dash towards that position, dodging javelin projectiles from the opposing party, volleying small apes, and shattering small crystals along the way.

* * *

Blade, after having shattered another large crystal seconds later and eviscerating a large re-spawning ape in the process by use of his adamantine thorns, started to make his way towards Dawn's position only to stop to find that the dragoness was doing fairly well against a large ape—by use of her evasive maneuvers and close attacks—who was guarding the fourth crystal.

Then, he looked to find that two large weapon-wielding armored apes were dashing towards his direction.

With a frustrated growl, Blade started to dash towards the hostiles, but stopped seconds later in startled surprise as he saw that the apes' movement was halted due to impalement to the midsection by the bolt of two arrows, their blood splattering from the injuries as a result.

As the two deceased bodies fell to the ground, Blade looked from the bodies towards the source of the attack to find the young archer, Wind, grasping his aiming crossbow in both paws.

Wasting little time, Blade applied his gaze towards the two far-off, yet remaining large shimmering crystals before hardening his gaze and tensing his face in concentration.

The two curved thorns on his forearms shimmered in response before extending to a horizontal base.

Afterwards, Blade issued a grunt sound before the adamantium thorns shot out two sharp projectiles towards its targets.

Unfortunately, two large apes re-spawned in front of the crystals as soon as the attack occurred, yet it didn't stop the sharp projectiles from plunging through their midsections, to which they grunted in pain, towards the crystals and decimating them to pieces upon contact.

As for the apes, the gaping wound in their midsections gushed their life fluids to the soil while blood spluttered from their maw as a painful result of the adamantium before their bodies fell motionless to the ground

With that done, Blade eased himself while breathing from the task as he looked towards Dawn's position to find her decimating a large crystal while the large ape that she was dealing with was blackened to a crisp by use of her flame breath.

A relieved sigh escaped the purple dragon's maw upon Dawn's safety, yet his gaze shifted towards the surrounding area. Deceased, bloodied bodies of the small and large apes littered this area due to their battle and the force field still remained, which means that there was still work to be done.

"Dawn!" Blade called.

Dawn looked in his direction and saw his head gesture towards the shore area before Blade headed off in that direction. The dragoness gave chase shortly afterwards.

As they got to the outside of the field, they stood before Wind, who was observing the force field at the moment before applying his gaze to the two dragons.

"Took you two long enough. And before you say anything on my earlier actions, I may be outside of this field, but that doesn't mean I'm of no help."

Blade smiled.

"Thanks, Wind."

Wind provided a curt nod.

"Don't mention it."

"Sparx, you okay in there?" Blade called to the dragonfly.

"I'm good." Sparx called from the back of the purple dragon's wing. "Although you were a bit jerky in your little battleground, Spiky, but I'm good."

"Good to hear." Blade spoke before applying his urgent gaze to Wind. "Wind, we're—"

"Not done yet?" Wind cut in and nodded. "I know. The field's still up."

"The rest of the crystals must be through the gate at the village where the temple is located. We'll have to take care of those."

"Yeah, easier said than done considering I'm the one out here and you two are in there." Wind spoke, but then, his gaze grew of suspicion towards Dawn before momentarily returning his gaze to Blade. "Which reminds me, how is it that she is helping you without being depleted of her energy?"

In silence, both Blade and Dawn looked at each other for a short moment, then back at Wind.

"Listen, Wind…" Blade started while slowly advancing towards the young archer, who watched the purple dragon's every move. "It's more or less complicated to explain. So you're just going to have to trust me on this."

As Blade halted at the foot of the young archer, Wind kept his gaze to the purple dragon, uncertain of what to make of this at the moment.

"Uh, trust you on what? Wha-what are you—" His words came out in stutters as Blade braced his right paw to the archer's right foot, which halted Wind from his speech.

An expression of reassurance framed Blade's face as he spoke.

"This'll only sting for a second, so just relax."

Before Wind could apply his words, he flinched in pain upon a small prick at his foot and before he could react, Dawn, with a smile, braced her left paw to the archer's left foot as a sign of reassurance.

"It's okay. He knows what he's doing."

Wind acknowledged her comment and looked back to his right foot, Blade's paw relinquished from the area seconds ago.

There, Wind saw a small cut wound to his foot. Then, to his stunning awe, the wound instantly healed like it was never there.

"Wha-what did you…How…?"

"Relax. I just implanted one of my silver fingernails into you. Reason for that being, the adamantine spikes on my body provide immunity for me from the crystals and the field. I passed that immunity onto Dawn, and now I pass it to you."

It was a good explanation. One that Wind gracefully considered with a nod.

"Huh. Well, thanks."

Blade smiled.

"Don't mention it. Come on, let's work our way up on that hill to the gate."

With a nod, Wind carefully walked through the force field, Blade and Dawn following behind. To his astonishment, he wasn't drained of his energy at all, which left his mind in wonder to this predicament.

Yet, he passed it off for the moment. They still had work to do.

* * *

_**Well, here's another long one. I was actually planning on posting this after I had got the other one done. But I really don't want to give anyone the impression that I've given up on this story, which I'm not. So anyway, I'm currently in the process of getting the next one done as long as writer's block doesn't catch up with me first. Ciao for now!**_.

_In the next chap, Dawn attempts to convince Ember and Flame to allow her to venture with Blade; Blade unexpectedly gets another ally for his venture_.


	17. Reunion and Extra Help

Chapter Sixteen: **Reunion and Extra Help**

* * *

The landscapes of the village, as well as the village's homes remained scathed as a results of the attack that occurred one day ago.

In view of the ruins lie a number of small and large pulsating crystals embedded into the ground in the consecutive areas, constantly draining all of life from its very core.

Small and large apes were on guard to these crystals as well as some that were closest to the temple.

From the front of the entry gate, Blade, Dawn, and Wind watched on while Sparx was still under the protection of one of the purple dragon's wings. But regardless, the dragonfly managed a reconnaissance peek of the activity.

During their watch, all three caught sight of the apes on guard at the entrance to the temple.

"Blade, what do you think? You think more of the apes are in there in the temple?" Wind questioned.

Blade shook his head while Wind's attention diverted to the purple dragon.

"Doubtful."

"Well, what if they took anything of value from the temple?"

"They already have weapons on them. If they came for anything other than the guardians, they would've taken it yesterday when given a chance during that siege."

In silence, Wind nodded before diverting his attention forward to the activity.

"Good point. So what do we do now?"

"We take care of the crystals and the apes on our way towards the hatch entrance at the far-off side."

"But if we open the gate, it'll attract attention."

"And if we fly, they'll see us and start shooting." Dawn followed.

During their speeches, Blade diverted his gaze downward in pondering thought on this situation before an idea entered his mind as Dawn and Wind took note of this.

"Say, Wind, can you jump high enough when carrying anything?"

Wind looked to Blade and shrugged his shoulders.

"Took a lot of practice, but yeah. Why?"

Silence issued from the purple dragon before, to Wind and Dawn's notice, a curved clever smirk framed his facial feature.

* * *

Within seconds, Wind, who carried Blade and Dawn in the grasp of his two arms with difficulty, managed a daring leap over the entry gate and landed softly on the ground.

After that accomplishment, Wind gently placed the two dragons back on the landscape before they started stealthily racing towards the back of a burnt down village home, being careful not to attract unwanted attention.

Wind reached at his back and un-holstered his trusty crossbow weaponry that has the differential capability to fire two rounds of arrows at the same time.

Blade took note of this weaponry that he has recently saw in action and sparked up a question to the archery in pertaining to that weapon.

"Nice mod on your crossbow." He whispered. "When did you—"

"It's not a modification." Wind cut in. "What you saw before on the island was my trademark edition. This baby that I managed to smuggle onto my boat is his big brother. It has the set capabilities to fire both rounds at the same time, but I had it set to fire at least one round in order to conserve my ammo."

After a bit of silence, Blade managed an impressive nod before suddenly bracing the silver scythe of his tail to the bolt of the arrow.

Wind took note of this, yet didn't speak as he looked on in stunning shock at the rippling effect that transmitted from the purple dragon's scythe tail to the two arrows.

As Blade relinquished his tail, Wind observed the new color design on his projectiles as a shade of glistering silver.

"Nice." He complimented. "But why—"

"The adamantine are the only things that can breach those crystals."

"But it's only two arrows. What about the rest of my load?" He asked, but shortly he was going to get his answer.

* * *

Seconds later, a clicking sound caught one large ape's attention towards the direction of the noise. Then, the ape grunted in pain as he looked down and noticed a silver arrow embedded into his midsection, spewing blood from the injury upon harsh contact.

With a gagging breath, the ape looked forward to find the source of the attack only to catch sight of a silhouette a good distance away positioned at the right side of the burnt village home, aiming a weapon right at him.

A painful grunt was the ape's only response before the hostile was met with impalement to the head by a secondary arrow, which got him down on his back in a matter of seconds.

The action alone alerted the other apes at their post as Blade used the adamantine on his forearms to shatter the large crystal that the deceased ape was stationed at.

Afterwards, he, Dawn, and Wind went on the offensive against the hostiles, shattering a number of small crystals in the process while the opposing party started their own attacks on the intruders with a number of weapons in hands.

* * *

Ember lifted her head up from the chest of the recuperating Flame, which, of course, resulted in the orange dragon waking from his slumber.

When he looked to Ember in concern, he saw that the pink dragoness was surveying the area with her eyes half opened.

"Ember, what is it?"

Ember turned to Flame upon awareness of his awakened state.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Flame. Did I wake you?"

Flame nodded.

"Yeah, but don't worry about it. So what's going on?"

Due to the question, Ember's expression grew of slight confusion.

"W-What do you mean?"

"Well, you lifted your head up and started looking around the place for something. I'm just wondering if there's something going on."

Seeing no point in keeping this to herself, Ember decided to speak on the matter.

"Well, it's probably nothing to worry about, but…I just thought I heard something from the outside. That's all."

In silence, Flame provided a nod.

"Oh."

"How about you?" She asked in regards to his condition. "You feeling all right?"

Flame looked to her and just snickered.

"More or less, but I'll live. I mean, it's like I said, it'll take more than this to keep this dragon down."

Ember snickered upon that comment, yet her expression diverted a bit in pondering thought as Flame noticed.

"You okay?" He asked.

Ember heard him, but grew silence for a while to think on her choice of words.

"Do you ever wish that things could've been different?" She asked before applying her gaze to Flame. "You ever wish that things could change if that…gruesome day never happened?"

At this moment, Flame knew where the conversation was going, which led to an image that flashed to his mind on Spyro and Cynder, the two friends that they have lost.

Then, his mind surfaced to the gruesome displays that has befallen them both, which led to his thought on the question.

"You know, Em, Spyro is more than a role model to me. He is my friend. He is like a brother that I never thought I could have. I mean, sure I cursed him for leaving us and putting me in the position of consoling you from self-harm as well as harm to others, both emotionally and mentally. But he is and always will be a brother to me. And Cynder…"

He grew hesitant for a well before a slight, yet saddened smile framed on his face upon the sudden visionary imagery of the black dragoness' facial frame.

"Well, what can I say? She is a remarkable dragoness. I mean she has managed to capture his heart in a way that, no offense to you, no female dragon could accomplish, The same, of course, applies to Spyro even though I tried in the past to get her."

Ember provided a snicker from her maw upon the comment.

"Yeah, story of my obsessively romantic life. At least that's one thing that you and I have in common; we both wanting what we can't have."

Flame nodded in agreement while his smile diverted to a saddened frown.

"Yeah. You know, they were like an inseparable pair…up until that tragedy thirteen years ago. Do I ever wish that things could change from that horrible, fateful day? Yes. I wish it would change in a goddamn heartbeat."

* * *

A silver arrow with a dead blood-soaked heart at the center was embedded into the ground, bolt first, shortly before a deceased ape collided back first in front of the object with a gaping bloody hole at its left abdomen.

Wind diverted his cautious aim from the deceased ape for a few seconds towards another large crystal before unleashing a silver arrow to penetrate the shimmering object, which shattered on impact.

Meanwhile, a large ape thrust its curved sword downward on the purple dragon while Blade instantly used the silver scythe-like blade of his tail to block the attack.

Sword and tail scythe were clashed against each other, both struggling to overpower the other.

Unfortunately, Blade, regardless of his struggle, could feel the strength of the large brute slowly weighing against his weaponry, which would soon result in the purple dragon losing his head if the pressure keeps up.

To this knowledge, Blade started shifting his eyes in various directions in a desperate search for an alternative to get him out of his current situation. But his search wasn't long as he noticed the ape's two legs underneath him.

Wasting little time, Blade took a deep breath and unleashed fire from his maw, setting the legs of the large ape ablaze.

The flaming attack resulted in the ape screaming in agonizing pain before Blade took the opportunity to knock away the enemy's weapon with his tail scythe while the fire spreads throughout the ape's entire body, reducing the brute to a burnt corpse.

Afterwards, Blade, after being slightly fazed by the demise of the ape, yet managed to ease his composer, dashed forward and penetrated another large crystal with his horns before turning around to find Dawn, and Wind, minus Sparx since he's still under the protective confines of the purple dragon's wings and silver scale, approaching his position.

"You all right?" Blade asked towards Dawn, who nodded.

"Yeah, I'm good. You?"

"Been better."

"Oh, I'm fine. Thanks for asking." Wind spoke, cynically to the notification that he was left out of the conversation.

Blade snickered.

"Sorry."

"It's all right."

By a glance, they looked up to find that the field was still active, but slightly fading as a result of their actions.

"All right, the field is almost gone, which means more large crystals and more ape trouble around here to deal with." Blade spoke.

Dawn nodded.

"Okay. Then, let's go clean the rest up."

"Actually, Dawn, I need you to go to the hatch. You can take Sparx with you. And do it fast. Wind and I will take care of the rest."

Before Dawn could speak out of protest, Blade intervened.

"Look, Dawn, I'm not disputing whether you can go with me or not. I made my decision back on the island about that. But it's only fair to let Ember and Flame know about this, too."

Seeing his point, Dawn nodded before Blade instructed Sparx to go with the female dragoness. Regardless of his protest due to the active field, the dragonfly complied and flew into the protection of the dragoness' wings.

Afterwards, Dawn made a dash towards the location of the hatch entrance while Blade and Wind watched.

Both grew in silence, but Wind found the situation uneasy in regards to bringing the dragoness along.

"You sure about this, Blade?" He asked.

Despite his inner doubt, Blade nodded.

"Yeah. Come on, let's finish this up."

With that said, the duo made a rush to the areas around the temple to finish the job with the crystals.

* * *

_Meanwhile_…

"How are you holding up?" A voice spoke.

Flame and Ember looked to find that the voice belonged to Hunter, who presented them both with a smile.

Flame and Ember returned the gesture before the orange dragon answered the veteran archer's question.

"Like I told Ember: More or less, but I'm fine."

With the smile intact, Hunter nodded.

"Good to hear."

"Are the lab guys done with the examination on that spike?" Flame asked.

Hunter nodded.

"I just came from them. They are done."

"And?" Ember started.

However, before the veteran archer could get a word out, three hollowed knocks issued from the steel hatch entrance door, which drew Flame, Ember, and Hunter's attention.

Bianca as well as the entire crowd of townspeople in the underground safe haven heard the knocks, but kept quiet as well, and for good reasons.

For all they knew, it could be the apes knocking at that door.

For that reason, Hunter decided to make a slow, cautious approach towards the hatch entrance at the same time gesturing for Ember and Flame to stay put.

Ember nodded while Flame's expression grimaced of annoyance.

"Really? Hunter, I have a fucking bandaged leg. Where could I—" He whispered before Ember shushed him into silence.

Resuming his cautious approach, Hunter eventually halted at the entrance door before three more knocks echoed from the steel door.

Silently, he un-holstered a small combat dagger from his attachable pouch with his left paw while using his remaining paw to carefully twist the handle of the hatch.

Once the latch was completely unlocked, he slowly opened the door and looked out the small opened wedge only to be startled by a golden light hovered in front of his eyes.

It took time for the veteran archer's sights to adjust to find that the golden light was a male dragonfly, which instantly didn't take Hunter long to recognize the insect, who had his arms crossed and a look of annoyance on its facial expression.

"Sparx?" Hunter questioned.

"Well, who the hell else would it be?"

"If you're here, then…"

He halted his speech before diverting his gaze from the dragonfly towards the wedged opening to find the face of a smiling dragoness positioned before the entryway.

"Hi, Hunter. Can I come in?" She spoke.

Without a word, Hunter opened the door just enough to have Dawn enter into the underground haven.

As Hunter closed the door, Dawn wasted little time and paddled over toward her aunt and uncle, who, upon seeing the sight of her, grew increasingly ecstatic and relieved to see the sight of their adoptive niece again.

Ember grew the most excited that she practically embraced her niece half to death, while Dawn tried to get her words out.

"Aunt Ember, you're…squeezing too hard." She managed to get out.

Instantly, Ember released her embrace with an apologetic expression on her face.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sweetheart."

"It's okay."

"It's just that we thought that we would never see you again after what has happened yesterday. Are you all right?

Dawn nodded.

"Yes, I'm fine, _Mom_." She said before snickering.

Her last emphasized comment was pretty much of a jester towards the pink dragoness, which Ember knew judging by the way that she was acting around the young dragoness.

Regardless, Ember let off a soft chuckle before speaking once again.

"What about Blade and Glacia? Are they—"

"Blade is fine, Auntie." She said before her smile slowly diverted to a saddened frown upon the next piece of news that she was about to reveal. "But Glacia…"

Dawn managed to stop herself at the moment and shut her eyes with an expression of sorrow on her face.

Flame, Ember, Hunter, and Bianca took note of this with equal expressions of worry and dread on their faces.

Dawn opened her eyes and took note of those expressions before speaking.

"Glacia took one to the abdomen. Blade, Sparx, and I witnessed it ourselves."

In gasping shock, Ember covered her maw with her right paw before asking the question that she dreaded to ask.

"Is she…?"

Dawn took a deep breath before speaking.

"We thought she was. But according to Blade, she's still alive. And so are the elders."

Relief settled on Flame, Ember, Hunter, and Bianca upon this news, yet their minds quickly settled on a certain purple dragon.

"Wait, where is Blade?" Flame asked.

"He's outside taking care of the rest of those crystals."

"Whoa, wait a minute. Alone?"

Dawn shook her head to the question.

"No, he's not—" She started before Flame intervened.

"How is he even doing that without even—"

"—getting his energy sapped out? When Blade gets here, he will explain. In the meantime, Aunt Ember, Uncle Flame, can I have a word with you, please?"

In silence, both Ember and Flame nodded before Dawn's gaze went to Hunter and Bianca.

"Alone, please?"

Hunter and Bianca nodded before walking away, leaving Flame, Ember, and Dawn alone to talk.

* * *

Back outside, the force field has faded away as Blade and Wind met back with each other at the front of the temple; both mildly exhausted from the work.

"That's the last of them. What now?" Wind asked.

Swallowing a bit of saliva, Blade spoke.

"We meet up with the others at the underground safe haven. Bring them up to speed on everything."

Wind nodded.

"All right, lead the way."

Without a word, Blade paddled away towards the hatch entrance to the safe haven with Wind following shortly afterwards.

* * *

Back inside the safe haven, after having talked to Flame and Ember, the pink dragoness grew in appaling shock upon what her niece has spoken.

"No. No, absolutely not." Ember spoke while shaking her head in rejection to the idea.

Slightly lowering her head and shutting her eyes, Dawn managed a deep sigh from her maw.

"Aunt Ember—" She started before Ember interrupted, emotional anger and worry apparent in her tone.

"No, Dawn, I just got you back!!! There's no way I'm losing you again by going on this venture!"

"Ember—" Flame started in hopes to calm her down, but Dawn intervened, quickly raising her head to glare in her aunt's light blue eyes.

"You haven't _lost_ me, Aunt Ember!" Dawn argued. "You never did! I have been gone for twenty-four hours, yet I am still here! Still _alive_! Nothing has happened to me since that time!"

After that, silence settled between them.

"Well, what if something does?" Ember asked, with her expression and tone of worry, which Dawn took note of and was growing slightly annoyed by it. "I mean, you saw what happened to Glacia—"

"Yeah, and so did Blade!" Dawn spoke, her glare loosened to a pleading gaze.

"And so did I!" Sparx spoke, hovering by her side.

Ember acknowledged Sparx before her gaze went back to her niece.

"But he said that his mother is still alive and so are the elders. I don't know how he knew, but for some reason, he believes for a fact that they are alive. That's his motives for doing what he has to do."

"But why involve you?" Ember asked with a gesture of both paws during her words.

"Blade didn't involve me, Aunt Ember. All right? I volunteered."

Caught by surprise on that answer as well as Flame, Ember was about to speak on the matter, but Dawn intervened upon notice of the expression.

"And I volunteered because I care about him. He is my friend. And he cannot do this alone."

"And what if you get hurt?" She pressed.

Dawn shook her head.

"That won't happen."

"How do you know that?"

"Because Blade will protect me!"

"Bl—"

Ember stopped herself and lowered her head with her left paw to her forehead in an attempt to calm herself down and suppress herself of her emotions towards her niece.

"Listen, Dawn…" She started with a sigh escaping her maw as she removed her paw from her forehead and lifted her head to gaze her worried eyes to her niece. "It's no question. I care about Blade, too. He is a part of this family. But I'm sorry to say that I have my doubts about this. How can he protect you?"

In silence, Dawn diverted her gaze slightly downward in careful thought. If she told her what she has discovered on the island with Blade, chances are that they'll disbelieve the story.

For that reason, a second option came to mind as the dragoness looked to her aunt.

"I'll let Blade explain that to you."

Without a word, she paddled over towards Flame's resting spot and sat on her haunches while Sparx hovered next to her.

While Ember watched her every move, Flame suddenly grasped her arm, to the pink dragoness' surprising awareness, and gently, despite the pain arching in his injured leg from the move, dragged her to an area where they are alone.

"Wait, Flame, you shouldn't be up. You're in pain." Ember spoke before Flame interjected.

"Shh. Ember, you're doing it again." He whispered, while slightly grimacing from the pain.

Ember could tell by the look in his eyes that he was displeased with something, but her thoughts escaped her on what that was at the moment.

"Doing what, Flame?" She whispered back.

"_This_! Overprotection is something of a mother's instinct, not an aunt."

"Overpro—" Ember started to question, but stopped with her gaze slowly diverted from Flame's view upon remembering how she reacted in front of Dawn.

Closing her eyes with an expression of guilt, Ember released a deep sigh from her maw.

"Oh. I'm sorry." She softly apologized while shaking her head. "Really, I'm-I'm sorry, Flame. It's just when she was left in our care, we—"

"I know. I know." Flame responded with a nod, then resumed. "And you're right. We have an obligation to take care of her as if she was our own. We also have an obligation to keep her safe. But let's look at it from her point of view, okay?"

Ember's attention was directed to Flame as he resumed.

"If she says that Blade would protect her on this journey that they're going on, then we should support her in her decision."

"But Flame, we don't even know where they're going."

"Well, like Dawn said, let's let Blade explain that to us."

It took five seconds until Ember nodded to the idea no sooner before hollow knocks from the hatch entry door caught their attention.

Hunter was about to approach the door with caution when he stopped and turned to Dawn, who called him back with an expression of reassurance on her face along with Sparx.

"It's okay. It's Blade."

"How—"

"Never mind how, archer kitty! Just open the door! Sheesh!" Sparx spoke with a hint of annoyance in his tone.

Despite his doubts, Hunter decided to take their word for it and approach towards the door.

With he got there, he braced his right paw to the knob and, with one twist, the door is open to reveal, to Hunter's surprise, the smiling face of young Blade.

"Blade!" Hunter exclaimed.

"Hi, Hunter."

Then, Hunter's gaze became of recognition when he led eyes on Wind, whose expression mirrored the veteran archer.

"Wind."

"Master Hunter."

In the middle of the two, Blade's expression grew of confusion upon this revelation while his gaze kept shifting to both archers.

'_Master Hunter?_' Blade thoughts spoke.

In all honesty, he didn't expect this happening. Regardless, he addresses the issue.

"Uh, you two know each other?" The purple dragon spoke.

Silence loomed from all three, yet Blade managed to get an answer that he was least expecting.

"Yeah, he's my student."

Surprise was Blade's expression as his attention was directed towards Wind, who acknowledged the purple dragon's gaze, yet returned his stare to his 'teacher' with a sheepish snicker escaping his maw.

"Eh, long time, Master Hunter."

* * *

**Five Minutes Later**…

Five minutes has passed and that was how long it took for Wind to introduce himself to everyone inside the haven, while Blade led the way.

During that time, Ember tried to speak to Blade on the issue involving Dawn, but waited until he was done with Wind.

After the introduction, Wind and Hunter started conversing with each other while at the same time the young archer was showing his veteran teacher his new weaponry--the veteran archer being impressed by the design.

As Blade watched the conversation take place, a clearing of the throat has caught the purple bluish dragon's attention towards a pink dragoness and an orange dragon looking down to him with their arms crossed.

The stern displeasing, yet worried looks on their faces were evident enough for Blade to find out what the issue was about.

Looking to the side, he saw Dawn with a look of slight disappointment written on her face that was directed forward while Sparx was hovering beside her.

Yet, she noticed the purple dragon's attention to her and slightly nodded to Blade indicating to him that she has told them what she was going to do while her expression quickly pleaded towards him to change their minds.

With an uncomfortable sigh escaping his maw, Blade turned his attention back to Flame and Ember and started his explanation.

"Listen, I know that this displeases you. I'm against it myself on account of the dangers that are involved. I mean the thought of taking her along really scares me. It terrifies me just as much as it does you two. But she made that decision under good reasons."

"For you to protect her." Ember spoke.

Blade nodded.

"Yeah."

Ember, for a while, has been struggling mentally to keep her emotions in check towards Blade. She made the mistake of letting her grievous emotion target both the purple dragon and his mother on account of the tragedy thirteen years ago and halfway throughout the young hatchling's childhood.

She wasn't willing to make that mistake again and she, as well as Flame, is going to make sure of that.

"Blade…" Ember started calmly as she kneeled to Blade's level with a look of worry in her eyes. "How? How can you protect her from them?"

Diverting his gaze downward, Blade grew silence for a while before starting his explanation on what he has learned over the past few days.

"Listen, yesterday Ignitus told me the legend of the purple dragon that has the ability to master the many elements that others could not. Unfortunately, I'm no exception to that rule."

In silence, and without Blade's notice, both Flame and Ember gaze to each other with knowing expressions on their face. It was no secret to them that he is the third of the lineage of purple dragons. It was something that they were recently aware of by the fire guardian years ago. They were also aware of the young dragon's destiny that is to come.

Yet, due to young age, they kept his destiny a secret in hopes that either the elders tell him or he would figure it out on his own at the same time promising Glacia to keep a thirteen-year-old secret from her son for the obvious reasons.

After a while, they turned their gazes back to Blade.

"Over the course of two days now, I've managed to acquire the ability to breath fire and ice from my mouth, fight, fly with my wings, use a technique called Dragon Time, and something that I'm still awestruck about at the moment, the power of will."

Slightly surprised, Flame creased a brow upon that comment.

_'The power of will_?' His thoughts spoke. '_I never heard of anything like that. I never seen Spyro use anything like that_.'

Ember's thoughts mirrored the orange dragon's thoughts at the moment pertaining to that statement.

As far as they can remember, the legend of the purple dragon stated that they could wield the ability to master the many elements that normal dragons cannot, including the use of Dragon Time, but the power of will? What did that mean? Did he mean the elements that he currently possesses?

They weren't sure at the moment, so Ember wasted little time and sparked the question.

"The Power of will?"

Blade nodded before his gaze went to both Ember and Flame.

"Yeah." He answered, and then thought back on their earlier question. "How am I going to protect her, you ask? _This_ is how. Stand back."

Although confused, Ember complied by standing up and backing away with Flame following suit with her.

Wind and Hunter stopped what they were doing and took note of this out of curiosity as well as Bianca and a number of townsfolk.

With the distance separated from him, Blade slowly diverted his gaze forward, took a deep breath and calmly closed his eyes to concentrate while Dawn and Sparx also watched from their position.

Everyone present in the haven stayed silence for a good two minutes before something caught each of the villager's, dragons or otherwise, stunning eyes.

Before them, they saw the silver thorns on the body of the purple bluish dragon shimmering brightly and slowly extending at each passing second. The brightness nearly blinded a few, but many managed to see clearly.

Suddenly, the entire haven brightened in silver, forcing those present to shield eyes from the intense white light.

After a few seconds, the light dimmed down and everyone uncovered their eyes to bare witness to a sight that confused some and stunned many.

A small silver dome-like object with a lower sharp tail at the end stood in place where a purple dragon resided in earlier.

Many of the villagers muttered amongst themselves upon this development as Ember, although stunned from this scenery, started out of worry to slowly, yet cautiously approach the small dome object.

Flame was quick to notice, but tried not to move again due to the injury he sustained.

"Em, be careful."

With her worried gaze still to the dome, Ember responded with a nod before resuming her approach.

Sparx, who recently, grew stunned by this development in place, looked to Dawn in question.

But the sun-colored dragoness, whose expression grew with a smile, anticipated Sparx's expression, yet kept her gaze forward towards the dome object.

"Just wait for it, Sparx."

Although perplex by how the dragoness was taking this, Sparx complied as he returned his gaze towards the silver dome.

Ember managed to get close enough to the dome and observed it for a while.

"Blade?" She called out.

No Response.

Then, she slowly reached out, with her right paw, to the silver dome in hopes to find out if the purple dragon was inside this silver object.

However, before she was within inches from her reach to the object, she grew startled by what happened next as well as everyone present in the area.

Sounds were heard that resembled metallic scraping as the dome slowly started to retract from both sides. During that time, the right side of the dome started to divide into a couple of silver spikes while the left side did the same.

Then, the curved spikes started to bend to an upward position on the right and left side where everyone could clearly see a purple bluish dragon in the middle of it.

As the spikes reached the upward position, one divided double spike started fusing together to create a long stalactite-looking thorn, the same effects applied to the other divided adamantine spikes on the left side as they took the form of the thorns.

Afterwards, they shrunk down to the size of small thorns on his back from up and down while his horns were bent back to his original position.

After that was done, Blade breathes out from his nostril before opening his eyes to find expressions of shock, awe, and amazement from those present in the haven.

The most notable that of speechless expressions came from that of Flame, Ember, Sparx, Hunter, Wind, and Bianca, whose maws were agape upon this revelation.

Blade looked to Dawn, who remains to have a proud smile to her face while Sparx, although speechless, started muttering incoherent words and pointing in the purple dragon's direction.

Blade nodded upon note of everyone's expressions before directing his attention towards Ember and Flame.

"Um, any questions?" He asked.

* * *

In a dark area of the fortress where torches lit up the place, four vertical scepter staffs, each with clear shimmering crystals embedded with their insignia placed on the top of them, were positioned next to four pillars on the far corners of the area.

In the middle of the room between these staffs stood Flaron, who stood with a staff of his own in his left paw and a scroll in his right paw.

The scroll that he was observing at the moment was written in an ancient language, something that he hopes to memorize as soon as his plans come into fruition.

As he was observing the writing, one of his dark horn brethren, a black dragon, approached towards his position with a stern expression on his face.

But the dark horn leader didn't stray from his observation since he knew that the dragon was coming by way of sound.

"Are the elders in position, Vane?" He asked without straying his gaze from the scroll.

The black dragon known as Vane provided a curt nod.

"A little bit of resistance from three of them, but we managed to position them all quite well."

A menacing chuckle escaped Flaron's maw.

"Excellent."

"But there seems to be a problem."

Flaron's smile slowly diminished upon those words as he slowly lifted his head from his attention to the scroll in disbelief while at the same time keeping his snarling anger in check.

"What kind of problem?" He asked.

"It would seem that the island from far-off as well as the Dragon village have been freed of the force field.

"But that's not possible." He said before finally turning around to face Vane, granting his dark horn brethren the privilege to see the disbelief and inner anger in his eyes. "Those crystals were impenetrable. No one could break them."

"That's what we thought as well." Vane spoke, and then took out a prism-like object from his garment robe to Flaron's notice. "But then, we saw this."

As the dark horn leader watched, the prism glowed before a holographic image appeared overhead of the glowing item, granting Flaron the details on the events that occurred over the past couple of hours involving the destruction of the implanted crystals on the island and the Dragon village including catching stunning sight of who was responsible beside a few others – A young purple dragon.

"No." He spoke, softly while shaking his head in disbelief. "That's impossible."

"I can assure you, sire, that this is not an imagination." Vane spoke as the holographic image ended while he placed the prism back into the cloth of his garment robe. "Your orders, sire?"

Flaron grew silent for a while before directing his attention to Vane.

"Find Dargaul and bring him to my throne room immediately."

With a respectful bow in response, Vane turned and made his leave from Flaron's sight

* * *

**Seven Minutes Later**…

After having shown Dargaul the details of the events from a couple of hours ago, the holographic image vanished as Flaron gently placed the prism on a four-legged wooden table next to his throne.

The dark horn leader's expression was stern, yet displeasing to this imagery as well as to the dragon hunter as Dargaul noticed, yet his expression stayed stern and unflinching.

None has spoken a word to one another until now.

"Are you aware of the incident involving this…purple dragon?"

Dargaul shook his head.

"No. But I have seen the youngling at the temple."

"And you have yet to inform me of that information."

"I was lead to believe that he was dead."

"You mean the one that you have killed thirteen years ago?"

"Shockingly, that, and the fact that this one has fallen off a cliff about a day ago. We have searched the ocean area including that entire island, but there were no traces."

"'_No Traces_,' which means that the youngling's death was a mere assumption, not an actual fact."

Dargaul grew in silence for a minute before speaking.

"Yes." He admitted softly.

Flaron almost felt the need to set the dragon hunter ablaze for his mere incompetent, but managed to become optimistic of the ordeal as he breathed a calming air from his nostril, which doesn't surprise Dargaul in the least since he fear nothing of dragons.

"No matter. The energies from those two locations were already bled dry, so the purple dragon's attempts were futile. But he is becoming much of a nuisance in our plans. Take care of it."

Dargaul nodded in response, but before he could leave, he turned back around when Flaron called him back on an issue that has been on his mind recently.

"Before you do, pay a visit to our ice dragoness."

"Reason?"

"From what I understand, you have killed the last purple dragon thirteen years ago. Find out what she knows about this one."

Dargaul nodded in response before turning to make his leave.

When Dargaul was out of sight, Flaron, with both his wrists on the armrest of his throne, took a calming breath and closed his eyes.

"We have a problem." He spoke.

Suddenly, an ominous air intruded inside the room before Flaron's eyes slowly opened to reveal glowing eyes of a somewhat familiar coloration: _Purple_.

* * *

_Grunt_…

At approximately the same time, Glacia was in the process of struggling to free herself of her binds. Recently, she tried channeling and releasing all of her ice-cold energy in hopes to try and freeze her shackles solid and break free, but for some reason, she lacked the energy to do so. Why?

Could the shackles be forged with some kind of unbreakable alloy? Or could it have something to do with the marking on her chest?

She didn't have much time to process her thoughts as the unlatching of the lock to the door has caught her attention.

As the door creaked open, she saw, to her disgust, the sight of the dragon hunter entering the prison.

With his back to the doorframe, Dargaul closed the door behind him and approached towards the ice dragoness with a sadistic smile to his face.

"Hello, my dear." He spoke.

"What do _you_ want?" She spoke with much disdain.

Dargaul halted his approached and thought about the question.

"Hmm. How about an answer to my question?"

In silence, Glacia grew slightly confused upon his words before Dargaul spoke.

"What do you know of this…purple dragon roaming around the surface?"

Glacia's expression switched to one of stern hatred towards him to mask the fear in her eyes. She made the mistake of showing intimidation in front of this dragon hunter thirteen years ago, which would have ended her life, but ended up costing the life of the dragon that she loved. She wasn't willing to make that mistake again.

"The only purple dragon that I know of…is the one you killed thirteen years ago."

His smile diverted to a frown, Dargaul exhaled air from his maw in order to keep his anger in check towards the dragoness, keeping in mind that Flaron wants her alive.

But he needed answers from her and it was becoming frustrating by the second.

Then, he suddenly remembered something that was explained to him by Flaron on the dark markings, which gave him a horrendous idea.

With a menacing smirk returning to his face, Dargaul approached closely toward the dragoness whilst examining the marking on her chest with Glacia watching his every move.

"You know, it's a shame that my 'anonymous help' didn't get much of a chance to explain the marking on your chest. So…" He halted as he, to Glacia's shocking notice, un-holstered a dagger from his pouch by the handle. "Allow me to provide the demonstration."

With that said, he instantly struck the dagger into the dragoness right paw, forcing a blood-curling cry of pain from her maw at the same time a sudden distorted, familiar image of torture involving a purple image intruded on the dragoness mind.

Afterwards, blood splashed from her injury from the harsh contact as Glacia bared her fangs in endurance to the pain before glaring angrily to the dragon hunter, who chuckled sadistically upon this familiar form of suffering.

"You know, the dark marking on your chest acts as a healer, hence the reason why you are still alive. Call it a gift from the dark horn leader known as Flaron, my anonymous help."

A grunt of pain escaped the ice dragoness' maw as the bloody dagger was slowly retracted from her paw. Afterwards, a dark glow issued from Glacia's chest, which in turn, retracted the blood and healed the wound.

Glacia took note of what has happened and slowly diverted her gaze from that area in anticipation to her situation.

With the sadistic smirk intact, Dargaul took note of this while using a cloth to clean the blood off the dagger.

"I take it that you understood your situation: Infliction is the greatest form of torture. And I am going to keep going until you answer my question. Wouldn't want you to become a victim like last time."

With a piercing glare, Glacia snarled angrily in his direction while the dragon hunter chuckled maliciously.

* * *

It took Blade several minutes to explain everything from his recent dreams that got him to acquire elements and skills beyond his imagination--which he once again had to leave out the true origin behind his training except for those who actually knew the truth, yet only thumbed it down to only one entity to which the purple dragon accepted--to the issue of whom they were dealing with.

At least, that was part of the explanation.

After a while, everyone present grew in stunned silence by this startling revelation as these issues came into questions to which Blade, with the help of Dawn and Wind, managed to answer.

"Why is he doing this? Revenge…Power. That's just on Flaron's end. And it goes straight back to the past with the guardians. But with Dargaul, I don't know how he's from the recent past, but it's simply revenge on his end." Blade explained before looking to Ember and Flame, a puzzled expression etched on his purple face. "Which reminds me. Do you guys know why this dragon hunter has a vendetta against us?"

"By 'us,' you mean dragons?" Flame questioned, his bodily form painstakingly positioned back to his resting spot to finish his recovery with Ember at his side.

Blade nodded.

"Yeah."

Flame and Ember shook their heads.

"Your guess is as good as ours, Blade." Flame spoke. "Why?"

Blade diverted his gaze downward in thought, then slightly shook his head.

"I don't know. It's probably nothing."

Flame slightly nodded.

"Oh. Well, since you're going to the Peace Keeper's realm first, you're going to need some back-up."

Looking to Flame, Blade shook his head.

"No Need. I got my back-up."

"Three's not going to be enough. You might need more. And I'm not saying that I don't trust you, but just to ensure Dawn's safety, I'm going to have to go with you."

"Flame, no! You're injured." Ember spoke out of worry.

"I'll manage."

Ember shook her head.

"Not this time. You stay, I'll go."

Flame looked to Ember with worry.

"You sure?"

Ember provided a smile to him.

"Yeah." She spoke before issuing a kiss to his cheek. "I'll be fine. Besides, you had enough action for one day."

Flame nodded in agreement.

"Partially true, okay, I'll stay."

"I'll go, too."

Blade, Wind, Dawn, Sparx, Ember, and Flame looked to find Hunter with his garment cloak, with a hood attached to it, covering his body and his bow and arrow in hand.

The sorceress, Bianca, standing by his side with her magic wand in hand.

"And so am I. I mean someone needs a little magic here and there for medical needs."

Flame nodded.

"So it's settled. The eight of us—Minus myself--are going."

"Make that nine!" A voice spoke.

Blade, as well as his other seven traveling companions, looked towards the area where the crowds of town folks were moving aside to make room for an individual who was the owner of that voice. An individual that the purple dragon recognized from childhood.

"Terr?" Blade spoke out of surprise.

Terradon, the dark brown earth dragon and grandson of earth guardian, Terrador, waltzed up to Blade with a hardened stern expression on his face.

He was a few years--a year, actually--older than Blade with dark brown scales, brownish green wings with inner membrane of granite coloration, sharp obsidian thorns protruding from his head down his back and to his tail, a rock-hard tail-tip regardless of its brown flat shape, two horns to his head, and two stone grey orbs for eyes.

He halted his stop in front of his long-time friend and spoke with a smile masking his facial feature.

"Hi, Blade."

Although stunned, Blade managed to speak.

"Terr, you're here. I-It's been a while since I've seen you. What happened?"

"Well, one moment I'm doing my studies with my granddad and the next he's called out to the other elders before the village got attacked. I managed to get into the hatch early thanks to Bianca."

Blade glanced to Bianca, who confirmed the theory with a smile and a curt nod. Afterwards, the purple dragon looked back to Terradon before going back to thought on the brown dragon's words.

"'Make that nin…'" He stopped with an expression of anticipation and worry towards his best friend. "Wait a minute, you're coming along?"

Unfortunately, Terradon took note of the purple dragon's expression and nodded before speaking on his defense while diverting his smile to a frown.

"Yes. And before you say anything, I'm going for the same reason that you are: _To save my family_."

"Your grandfather, Terrador." Blade spoke upon anticipation.

Terradon nodded.

"Yeah."

Blade diverted his gaze slightly downward and stood there in silent thought. It was enough that Dawn was coming with him on this venture to ensure his safety and vice-versa with her where Ember and Flame were concerned, but Terradon? For him, it was almost becoming a headache to endure.

But like Dawn, Terradon was coming for a reason, just on a different method. And because of that, Blade finds himself compelled to add another helping hand to the mix.

With a deep sigh escaping his maw, Blade looked up to his childhood friend with a hardened stern expression masked on his face, while Terradon presented the same facial gesture in return.

"Okay, Terr. You can come. But there's a condition."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Once we find him, once we get Terrador, we bring him back here and you will stay here with him so we can finish finding the rest of them, deal?"

Without much of a second thought, Terradon nodded

"Deal."

"Great. I could use the company." Flame spoke out in a jester, which earned snickers from Ember and Bianca.

With a nod, Blade turned towards the others, each were showing facial determination to their expressions, while Sparx flew to the purple dragon's side.

"You guys ready?"

Dawn, Wind, Hunter, Bianca, and Ember nodded in response as Blade looked to Sparx.

"How 'bout you? You up for it?"

Sparx nodded.

"Sure. I mean, beside rabbit ears over there, somebody's got to do the healing, right?"

A snicker escaped Blade's closed maw upon the comment.

"Right." He spoke.

Then, Blade issued his gaze to Terradon, who noticed and did a responsive curt nod while the purple dragon did the same.

Afterwards, Blade diverted his gaze forward to his other five traveling companions.

"Alright, everyone, onward to Peace Keeper's realm."

* * *

**_It looks like the team has been assembled. I hope RDX would get a good read when given a chance. And thanks for the description. You're a lifesaver!_**

_**Once again, sorry for the long wait. This story might be much difficult to finish as I anticipated. Nonetheless, I managed a chap, so that's a good sign. Keep on the lookout for more. Ciao!**_

_In the next chap, Blade and the team enter the Peace Keeper's Realm on hostile grounds; Blade acquires a new elemental attack_.


	18. Under Siege II: The Instilment of Fear

Chapter Seventeen: **Under Siege II: The Instilment of Fear**

* * *

Hours later, Blade, along with Sparx, Dawn, Ember, and Terradon were on flight towards their destination to the Peace Keeper's realm.

Hunter, Wind and Bianca were absence from the group since, moments earlier, they managed to take an easy route towards the area by way of portal, thanks to the female sorceress, which to Terradon, was considered cheating since they have to fly a couple of miles there.

Despite his opinion, Terradon kept to the task as the dragons soared through the skies with the air rushing passed their scales and their wings gliding them along.

"Hey, Blade, tell me again why we're doing this by way of air rather than portal. I mean, don't you think that could have been easy to get to our destination?" Terradon spoke, loud enough for the purple dragon to hear over the rough wind.

Blade simply chuckled before responding in the same tone as Terradon.

"Now where would be the fun in that, Terr? Besides, having been under the tutelage of your grandfather, I would think that you would like the challenge of flight and not take things the, uh…easy way."

Terradon rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Yeah, yeah, but sometimes we have our limits."

"Yeah, of course you do." Blade spoke in an unconvincing manner towards the earth dragon's comment.

Terradon managed a snicker from his closed maw before the dragons resumed their route.

* * *

_Knock…Knock_

Two hollowed knocks rattled the entrance door of a prison cell as footsteps were heard approaching shortly before the door opened to reveal Dargaul, who looked to find Vane, one of the dark horn members, at the door.

Both parties kept stern expressions towards each other before Dargaul spoke first while holding the door halfway open from prying eyes of his activities, much to Vane's disinterest.

"What is it?"

"Your presence is needed in the throne room."

With the expression intact, Dargaul nodded in response as Vane walked away.

Afterwards, Dargaul looked back inside the room and spoke.

"This isn't over. We will finish this until you are ready to talk." He warned before making his leave, closing the door afterwards.

* * *

Inside the prison cell, it grew quiet, save the labored breathing of a bound ice dragoness, who appears to be horribly scarred from her facial image to the abdomen as a result of Dargaul's twisted game of torture.

The marking on her chest, which appeared unaffected from the damage done over it, glowed softly while the bloody injuries slowly healed in response.

After the healing process was done, the pain was gone and the ice dragoness was able to breath with ease.

But Glacia wasn't thankful for that. She knew the truth. The evil symbol on her chest was doing the healing, which gave her capturer all the more satisfaction to put countless harm to her in his attempt for answers.

But so far, she hasn't spoken a word. And she wasn't going to. She wasn't going to give in. Because she knew what that meant.

If she were to tell the hunter that the purple dragon was her long-dead savior and lover, he would ultimately go after him. If she were to tell him that the youngling was her son, Blade, either the results would be the same, or he would use her as a bargaining chip as a means to get the purple savior to surrender and succumb to his gruesome fate, which would easily put her in a state of panic.

She made a commitment to protect Blade with her life, and she was willing to endure as much pain as possible to keep this dragon hunter away from her son.

She just hope that she can be able to keep it up until someone comes to her rescue.

* * *

The gusty wind constantly brewed across the desert landscape of the Peace Keeper's realm as Hunter, Bianca, and Wind, whom were in the middle of the desert, awaited their comrades to arrive.

All three, especially Hunter who has his hood over his head, were wearing facial coverings over their mouths to protect them from the gust of wind and sand.

"They should be here by now!" Wind spoke against the gust of air and sand brewing around them. "Where the hell are they?"

Both Hunter and Bianca shook their heads in a clueless manner to the young archer's question in regards to the dragons' whereabouts.

And just when they were about to get worried, several shadowy silhouettes in the sky managed to catch their eyes, yet they weren't sure.

Fortunately for them, they didn't have to wonder long as they saw that Blade and the others has made a soft landing on all four, folded back their wings, and approached them throughout the gust of brewing wind.

"Took you guys long enough!" Wind spoke.

Terradon grimaced in annoyance upon the comment.

"What'd you expect? I mean we have to be the ones to fly all the way here. We didn't cheat our way through like you guys did."

Wind's expression grimaced in offense to the comment as Hunter soon noticed.

"And what the hell is that—"

"Not now, Wind. Not—Not now." Hunter interrupted while shaking his head, halting, with his right paw, the young archer from approaching towards the young earth dragon. "We have more pressing matters to attend to."

"He's right, Terr. Leave it alone." Blade spoke sternly, with a quick glance to Terradon, and then back to the group.

In hesitant silence, both Wind and Terradon nodded in agreement shortly before the team started their way towards the large dome force field surrounding a nearby village.

As soon as they got there, Blade, with Sparx by his side, managed to get in front of the group before turning to face them, abruptly halting them from going any further, much to Hunter, Bianca, Ember, and Terradon's confusion.

Blade noticed those expressions and immediately got on the subject of the matter.

"Now before we go any further, I'm to assume that you're aware of what this field can do to you once you either touch or get inside it." He spoke.

Those present nodded in response but Hunter, Bianca, Ember, and Terradon kept their confused expression intact in wonder of the purple dragon's intention before Blade resumed.

"All right, with that said, Hunter, Bianca, would you position yourselves in front of me, please?

Although a bit hesitant, Hunter and Bianca approached towards and halted in front of the purple dragon as Blade immediately closed his eyes in order to concentrate.

Almost immediately, Hunter and Bianca grunted slightly in pain while their bodies fliched in reaction upon a slight prick applied to both their legs by the two extendable adamantine spikes from Blade's forearms.

As soon as the ordeal was done, Blade's silver spikes retracted back to its original position as Hunter and Bianca looked down to their legs before gazing questionably towards the purple dragon.

Blade took note of it with a smile.

"Remember, I already explained the immunity and its transfer."

It was true. Throughout his explanation, he did explain to everyone else of how Dawn and Wind were able to take care of the surrounding apes in spite of the field's effects. But regardless of some being awed by the explanation, some were skeptical of the issue at that point, which is the case with Hunter, Bianca, and possibly a few others.

Although stunned into silence, Hunter and Bianca nodded in response before Blade called on Ember and Terradon.

After repeating the same process with them, both dragons reactions mirroring the veteran archer and the sorceress upon the ordeal, the team turned their attentions towards the force field with determination etched on their features.

"Sparx, you know what to do."

The dragonfly nodded.

"Got it."

Immediately, Sparx hid into the protection of Blade's wing while the spiky thorns offers protection. However, the dragonfly became unaware of an energy absorbent transferring from the small silver thorn to his small body.

"All right, everyone, let's go." Blade commanded as the team took a careful pace towards the force field.

Once the team has reached the other side of the field, they kept their pace forward while Hunter, Bianca, Ember, and Terradon grew in awe upon the immunities protective effect against the field.

Regardless, they shook the expression off and kept going.

* * *

Meanwhile at a nearby village, the first of many villages surrounding the peace keeper's realm, armored apes, small and large, were assembled outside of taverns and homes where numerous amounts of small and large crystals were embedded in different areas in the village.

Unlike what has transpired in the dragon village, the apes managed to snag hostages of moles and manweresmalls, including children of the same species, in the vicinity.

Those who resisted against the apes were reduced to dead corpses by the kill shot of either a gauntlet spear, or a swinging spiked mace at close range while some were bludgeoned to death by hammering clubs. As of this moment, their blood-spewing corpses lie motionless to the sandy landscape of the village.

Among the middle of the wide village, four to eight long crucifix-shaped crystals were embedded to the ground, binding eight random villagers while the crystals lived up to their purpose in sapping every life force from their bodies.

Parked at the left and right side of a single house in the middle on the far back of the village were two automated vehicles—each equipped with a Gatling gun designed to shoot a number of spears from the front, a catapult to throw fiery boulders from the back and two large apes at the driver's seat of these vehicles. Of course, that course of action was hardly needed since the apes were able to overtake the village with ease, yet they kept the vehicles around, as a last resort should any enemy forces arrive.

While the apes were immune from the crystals' effect, the hostages were not, which, in a literal sense, resulted in them growing weak down to their knees.

Among the hostages was tavern owner, Ivan. He appears in his late 40s and up until now, the years and business has been good to him. But now, he was reduced to fear and intimidation by the hands of these vicious parties of apes.

He remembered the last time that they were under attack—thirteen years ago. But thanks to a certain purple dragon, they were safe from harm, hoping to never be instilled with fear again, or so they thought.

A large ape, possibly the leader with a bronze crown on his head, observed the victims on the crucifix-looking crystals before speaking to his subordinates.

"Looks like they're done. Cut them down and put the next load on."

With a respectful grunt in response, three large apes went on the approach to do the ordeal, unaware of what will transpire later on.

* * *

From behind a single large house in the village, Blade, save Sparx, and his other seven traveling companions suddenly reappeared on the spot as a result of Bianca's invisibility spell, which was used to avoid detection from the opposing parties of apes.

But during that time, they managed to observe the activity and grew not only disgusted, but horrified upon watching the hostages become subjected that such savagery.

"Sweet ancestors, they were going to do that to us, weren't they?" Ember spoke in a semi-whisper, voice shivered in recognition of her fear.

Hunter nodded, while his expression struggled to hinder his fear.

"Yeah. I think they were. They just didn't count on us hiding." Hunter spoke, his tone the same as well as the others.

"So what do we do?" Dawn asked.

"What do you think?" Terradon started. "We go in there, kick ass, and free them!"

Before Terradon was about to make his leave to the hostile field, Blade used his tail to halt the earth dragon's stop.

Terradon's confused eyes met with Blade's stern purple orbs upon this action.

"Go in there half-cocked without a plan? Really, Terr?"

Terradon's expression grimaced in irritation towards Blade before he spoke.

"Damn it, Blade, those people are dying. We have to help."

"And we will. But we got to plan this out first _without_ getting ourselves killed in the process."

"Yeah. Jeez, angst much?" Sparx spoke from the confines of Blade's wings.

"Sparx, quiet." Blade spoke.

"Sorry." Sparx silently apologized.

After a while of silence, the earth dragon's irritation deteriorated into calm anticipation as a sigh deeply escaped his maw, to which Blade noticed.

"You're right. You're right, I'm sorry." He spoke softly while Blade observed his close friend.

It was obvious to the purple dragon that Terradon was acting this way out of worry for the safety of his grandfather and seeing the activity around the village has pretty much increased his worries.

Blade knew. He felt that same way before about the safety of his mother as well as the elders, Dawn and the others, so he knew exactly where Terradon was coming from.

"Look, Terr, I know where you're coming from, I do. I mean I saw my mother getting killed right in front of me. Seeing that, devastated me like you wouldn't imagine. So much that…"

Blade stopped and took a breather for a moment to contain himself of his emotions before continuing.

"So much that I thought about ending my own life as well."

That comment practically startled Terradon…but not just him. In fact, the comment struck startle in Dawn, Sparx, and the others as well. Did he just say that he thought about taking his own life should anything happen to his mother? That was the thought on their minds, yet they have heard it from the purple dragon's lips.

Afterwards, Blade, upon noticed of the equal expressions, altered his attention back to the earth dragon and resumed while the others listened intently, Sparx included from the protection of the purple dragon's wings.

"You see... she is the only mother that I have, just like I'm the only son that she has. But then, I learned that she was still alive, held against her will for reasons I still have yet to understand. And _that _reason alone gave me hope and the strength I need to go and save her from a fate that awaits her as well as the elders. And I'm willing to do that without getting reckless, without getting sloppy, and without getting myself, as well as anyone else, killed in the process."

Then, he looked to his team, his eyes reading through each of their expressions before resuming.

"And why? Because believe it or not, regardless of how well you can take care of yourselves, you are all my responsibility. Your lives matter to me. And I will do whatever it takes to protect you. If that means killing a number of apes to accomplish that, then so be it. Because like I have said before, I am tired of running and hiding. My entire childhood, by my own hidden awareness, I have been living in fear of those who has tried to take my life without knowing the reason why. And no offense to Wind, but with the exception of him, you have all bent over backwards to protect me from harm. Now it's my turn. Believe in me, just as I believed in you."

Everyone in the group stood in stunned silence upon the speech, Ember and Dawn being the most stunned.

Dawn has recently suspected the changes in Blade ever since the horrible incident at the dragon village. It was the type of changes that signifies maturity, but she hasn't said a word until she was sure. Now given his speech, she has come to realize his situation and practically comprehended it with a soft compassionate smile etched on her face.

"Oh, Blade." She spoke, softly.

Unlike Dawn, however, Ember, although stunned, grew conflicted with her conscience.

For half of his childhood, Ember has grown resentful towards the purple dragon and his mother for event of the past that were beyond their control. So much resent that she has tried to, in her grievous state, kill them both—more specifically Glacia with Blade in her womb.

It was that kind of guilty conscience that compels the pink dragoness to make her confession to Blade for her transgression of the past, but has never been given the opportunity to do so.

She has managed forgiveness from Glacia a few years back, but what about Blade? Was he aware of her transgression of the past? Given his speech and how highly he spoke of everyone else, she didn't think that he was aware at all. And because of that, she has come to a decision.

'_I have to tell him. He must know the truth_.' Her thoughts spoke.

She managed an open maw, but no voice came out. Instead, she was interrupted by Terradon, which instantly caused her to close her maw in saddened disappointment.

"Okay, Blade." He spoke with a genuine smile. "So what's the plan?"

Without a word, Blade took the time to look around the back area of the homes before catching eyes of the side of an automated vehicle positioned by the house on the far-left corner. But due to the position of the vehicle, the ape piloting the vehicle was unable to catch sight of them.

The others took notice and looked to where Blade was looking before the purple dragon spoke.

"Okay, everyone, follow me and keep quiet."

With nods of agreement from the rest of the team, Blade led the way while the others followed towards the location of the vehicle, but not before Bianca applied the invisibility spell again to avoid detection.

When they managed a casual, yet silent approach to the last home on the left, the spell wore off as Blade halted everyone from further approach before taking a reconnaissance peek from the side of the house to see the vehicle with the ape piloting it. Then, he looked past the first vehicle and saw a second vehicle on the other side of the middle house piloted by another ape, their sights unaware of their presence.

Immediately, Blade retreated back and, with his attention to everyone, was about to speak before Terradon spoke in the same half-whispered tone.

"Uh, Blade?"

"Yeah?" Blade responded in the same tone.

"You have a plan for this? Because you pretty much haven't gotten on that level yet seeing as you've got us rushing down here first."

Grimacing in annoyance upon the interruption, Blade nodded.

"Yes. I was actually about to explain the plan before you spoke."

"Oh. Sorry." Terradon spoke, sheepishly.

In silence, Blade subsided his previous expression and shook his head.

"Don't worry about it." He spoke before getting to the subject of the matter. "Anyway, there are two of those vehicles on two sides of that middle house, one on the left next to where we are and one on the right. Each with an ape piloting it, with weapons that looks like a multi shooter in the front and a boulder catapult in the back."

"So…" Hunter started before Blade continued.

"So first, we are going to commandeer those vehicles, shoot down the apes _without_ harming the hostages, and free the hostages before more of the apes would start to re-spawn from the crystals. Sounds like a plan?"

Wind nodded.

"Sounds like a plan. Just one question: Who do you qualify as '_we_' to commandeer those vehicles?"

Blade provided a smirk.

"Well, Wind, you've piloted a boat. You think you can be a multi shooter?"

Wind contemplated this for a moment and spoke.

"Well, not much experience, but I'll give it a couple of shots."

Blade issued a curt nod.

"Good to hear. Hunter?"

Hunter immediately nodded.

"I know. I'll take the second Gat."

Blade creased a confused brow upon the comment.

"I'm sorry. 'Gat'?" Blade questioned before Hunter explained.

"Well, the way you have described the first weapon, it's generally a Gatling gun, not a multi-shooter."

Getting the idea, Blade nodded in comprehension.

"Oh. Well, good. Make sure you make your steers and aims accurate. Keep out of range of the hostages."

Hunter and Wind nodded in response.

"Oh, and Hunter, give me your load of arrows."

Although confused, Hunter complied by reaching for his left shoulder, removing his pouch of arrows from that area, and lowering the item to Blade's length.

"What are you going to do?" He asked.

"Something to help with those large crystals."

Instantly, Blade applied his silver barbed tail to the arrows, offering, to Hunter, Terradon, Ember, and Bianca's awe, the same silver rippling effect that was applied earlier to Wind's arsenal.

After he was done, Hunter had time to observe his new silver arrows before looking to Blade questionably.

Blade noticed.

"Didn't Wind tell you?"

Hunter applied his annoyed expression to Wind, who noticed and shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, he told me that it was _his_ little secret."

With his look to Wind, Blade once again creased an eyebrow upon the comment.

"Really?"

Wind noticed the purple dragon's expression, yet kept his attention to Hunter.

"Yeah, hey, a student must become the teacher, right? I wanted you to find out for yourself."

Despite his annoyance, Hunter nodded in response before Blade applied the same technique to Terradon's horns by the touch of his horns.

Afterwards, the earth dragon looked admirably to the silver touches with a smile to his face.

"Thanks." Terradon spoke.

"Remember, use them on the crystals." Blade instructed as the earth dragon nodded in response.

"But what about the hostages?" Ember spoke.

"On ground level, when the shooting starts, Bianca, Ember, Terr, Dawn and I will race to the wedge in between the first and second house. From there, Bianca and Ember will snag them--get them out of harm's way. After the apes are subdued temporarily, I will go and free the other hostages from the crucifixes. Once we free them, we'll have to find a safe haven for them to protect them away from the crystal's effects. Afterwards, we go out and shatter them all."

Terradon nodded in agreement.

"I'm up for that plan."

Blade nodded before addressing the others.

"You all up for it?"

Those present nodded in response before Blade resumed.

"All right, Bianca, you're up."

With the flick of her wand in her left hand, Bianca administered the invisibility spell once again. But the sudden aftereffect has managed to capture the attention of the ape piloting the first vehicle.

But the ape's observation on that suspicious activity didn't last long for—with a slight grunt of pain issuing from the ape--his head shot back upon a transparent object embedded into his forehead—the object instantly losing its transparent effect upon contact to reveal a dagger. Blood trickled from the wound while the act alone became unnoticed by his fellow comrades.

As the ape's corpse lies back on the vehicle, Wind, in his transparent form, managed to get the deceased ape from his position, with a little difficulty due to its weight, and placed him quietly onto the ground before retracting his killing weaponry from the ape's skull.

Afterwards, he commandeered the vehicle while Hunter performed his own silent kill by slitting the ape's throat with his own dagger, the ape's blood gushing from the wound, disposing of his body to the ground and commandeering the second vehicle. Like Wind's kill, his were hardly unnoticed.

Wind already started observing and testing the steering control for the Gat gun before nodding impressively.

"Nice."

Unfortunately, Wind's trailing fingers managed to depress a button on the back of the steering tool, accidentally letting off a single spear, which luckily impaled an unsuspecting ape in the throat, the gurgling ape's blood spraying from the harsh injury upon impact.

Wind cringed upon the sudden action.

"Shit. So that was the fire button."

Then, to Wind's notice, his action alone managed to abruptly catch the attention of the leader and the rest of the apes.

But when they looked in the direction of the vehicles, they saw that no one was piloting it. That was until a certain invisibility spell has worn off to reveal two cheetahs commandeering their vehicles while the leader and his comrades grew in high alert.

"INTRUDERS!!!!" The leader shouted.

Wind, upon awareness of his predicament, grimaced in irritation.

"Oh, fuck me sideways." He spoke before quickly depressing the trigger and unleashing a spear that immediately impaled the leader through his shouting maw, blood splattering from his injury upon impact before he fell dead to the ground.

Shortly after that action, Wind, along with Hunter kept the pace up, the cylinder-like object rotating and sending a barrage of spear in the apes' direction—some apes occasionally managing to strafe or evade out of harm's way, yet became victims of their own weaponries regardless--and taking them down with each accurate timing of their aims as possible while at the same time being careful not to shoot any of the hostages, whether on the ground or tied up on crucifixes, and also taking care of small apes trying to get to them in the vehicle.

* * *

Meanwhile, amidst the bloody carnage, Ivan, as well as a few other hostages whom were among those that were going to the crucifix, was groaning in pain upon their life force energy being sapped from them.

Suddenly, Ivan and the other hostages on the ground level were each being snagged one-by-one and taken towards the hidden wedge between two houses. After that, all was silence for the bartender.

* * *

"_Don't worry, you're safe_." A voice spoke.

Ivan managed to hear it before he opened his fluttering eyes, his vision blurring upon the effort. When his sights came into focus, he immediately caught sight of a purple dragon, groggily unaware of Dawn and Terradon's presence, looking down to him with a comforting smile to his face.

"You're going to be all right." Blade spoke, only to be slightly startled by what the tavern owner spoke next.

"Spyro?" His voice managed a whisper.

Before Blade could contemplate on this matter, his attention as well as Dawn and Terradon at his side, was diverted towards the outside of the wedge when they saw Ember, on hind legs, and Bianca.

Both of whom has managed to avoid the shooting spears of the vehicles and snagging another set of hostages from one side of the ground level towards their position. But despite their efforts, the villagers were still suffering from the crystals as well as the force field's effects.

Recently, Blade, Dawn, and Terradon would've helped with the extraction, but Bianca reasoned that the effort might slow them down on the mission.

Something that Blade and Dawn, and quite possibly Terradon, knew from experience since they had to use their maws to drag the bodies, not stand on their hind legs—which the purple dragon at one or two times has managed to experience, yet lacked the capacity to walk on them--and carry them along. And for that reason, the three young dragons relented.

"Is that the last of them on the ground floor?!" Blade asked, his tone high as a shout to overthrow the wails of the carnage.

"No, we just got some on this side of the area." Ember spoke, her tone the same while she and Bianca delicately placed the weakened hostages to the ground. "We need to get across the area towards the other side."

"Yeah, if Wind and Hunter would stop—" Bianca halted while noticing the silent around the area while she spoke normally. "…shooting."

"Nice timing." Ember complimented, her tone also normal.

Then suddenly, they grew in startled alert when two explosions occurred.

"Okay, what was that?" Bianca asked.

Without a word, Ember took a chance and cautiously went and took a peek from the wedge to look around past the stench of two, possibly three dozen dead apes on the ground, only to find that the two gun vehicles were reduced to shambles and fire before noticing Hunter and Wind helping out with the other villagers across the area from them.

"Hunter and Wind destroyed the vehicles after use." Ember spoke, her attention still to the outside area.

"Why?" Terradon questioned.

"To make sure that the apes never uses them again upon re-spawning. Listen, Hunter and Wind are helping out with the other villagers, but we need a safe haven for them."

Blade took the time to think this over. Originally, the plan for the safe haven was _after_ he had freed the hostages from the crucifixes.

But it was a slight, yet reasonable alternation.

With a nod of agreement, Blade turned his attention to Ivan and spoke.

"Sir, are you awake? Sir!" Blade called as Ivan stirred and responded, yet felt weakened.

"I feel tired." He spoke, weakly.

"I know you do, but we need to find you a safe haven for protection. Do you have one?"

Slightly groaning in his weakened state, Ivan managed to speak.

"Middle house, hatch entry."

Blade wasted little time and relayed the information to Ember and Bianca.

"Middle house, hatch entry."

Ember, who momentarily had her attention to Blade in wait, and Bianca nodded in response, but before they left, Ivan spoke.

"The others. Get to the others. They are in the house across the area on the left."

Blade nodded before relaying that info to Ember and Bianca, whom relayed the information to Hunter and Wind upon their arrival with their share of hostages.

Afterwards, they got to work before Blade got up and paddled out of the area in his attempt at freeing the villagers from the crucifix crystals, destroying these draining objects afterwards in the process, both by way of the adamantine on his body.

Unbeknownst to them at the moment, however, was that the large crystals embedded to the ground, were already re-spawning large and small apes.

* * *

Minutes later, as Ember and Bianca, along with Hunter and Wind, were putting their shares of villagers into the safe haven, the sorceress immediately grew aware of the veteran archer's bloody scar wounds inflicted on various parts of his body, which piqued her concern.

"Hunter, you're wounded."

With a slight groan from the pain, Hunter spoke while loading up the villagers, who has immediately got started on retreating downward to the hatch.

"I know. A couple of spears managed to scrape me, but I pulled through regardless. Don't worry, I'll live."

Regardless of her concern, Bianca nodded as Ember looked to find that Blade managed to free the weakened hostages from the crucifix crystals.

Upon notice of the situation, Ember was about to go over towards the area to help the purple dragon out. However, before she started in the purple dragon's direction, she noticed one of the hostages freed from the crucifix was a mole no other than ten—a child, weakened at the knee by the effect of the force field.

Then, she, to her horrific shock, noticed a valley of large apes—including the resurrected leader--several feet from the child's position approaching their way. One of which, upon the leader's command, was aiming its arm gauntlet in the child's direction.

Instantly, Ember got on all four and made a dash in the direction of the child at the same time the single spear was launched from the opposing party.

As soon as she got there, she quickly stood on her hind legs, grasped the child in her embrace, turned heels, and started to head back, but not before the spear found its mark through her left shoulder, puncturing somewhat of a nerve resulting in a scream of pain from her which caught the attention of Blade and the others.

"Ember!!!" Blade shouted.

"Aunt Ember!!" Dawn followed from the entrance of the house, horror etched on her face upon the sight.

The pink dragoness was down to one knee upon the action as Blade immediately instructed Bianca to get to her, the sorceress being quick to comply as she ran towards the pink dragoness' position, making it there only seconds later.

While carrying her towards safety, she applied a shield spell around herself, Ember, and the child in her embrace while the attacking spears from the opposing party collided with the barrier, breaching the spears in half upon contact.

"Hunter, Wind, come and get the others!!" Blade ordered as Hunter and Wind comply while at the same time applying their own archery skills to good use towards the hostiles.

Meantime, while Hunter and Wind attend to the freed hostages, Blade, while dodging the oncoming spears, raced towards the wedge on the other side of the area between two houses where Bianca and Ember are stationed, tumbling on the ground due to the pace that he was going, which unfortunately managed to launch Sparx from his protection spot.

"Hey, what gives?!" The dragonfly spoke while flying to avert himself from falling to the sandy ground, his bodily appeareances taking on a shroud of glistering silver.

But then, it was immediate that the dragonfly grew aware of Ember's predicament before flying over to Blade's side in worry.

As he got there, he looked to Ember, his strong worry intact for the pink dragoness' safety.

"Whoa, Pinky, you all right?" Sparx asked, which instantly earned an agonizing grunt of pain from the pink dragoness as his answer.

"Ember, what were you thinking?" Blade asked.

Then, his gaze went down to the innocent ten-year-old mole in her embrace before his eyes went back to Ember, who strongly grunted in pain from the injury.

"We missed one, probably lost in the crowd of hostages while we were freeing them. And I…I couldn't-_agonized grunt-_I couldn't let another child die, Blade." She spoke, softly.

Seeing her in this position suddenly triggered a flashback—the incident back to his mother. Upon that image, something else was triggered in Blade, something that the dragonfly was recently aware of and now noticed: _A growling, seething hatred_.

"Uh, Spiky?" Sparx spoke, his nerves shot upon the purple dragon's expression. "You, uh…you're not going to shoot things out of your forearms in a fit of anger again, are you?"

Without much of an awareness to Sparx's presence, Blade sharply looked to Bianca, who took startling notice to the purple dragon's emotions.

"Stay with her." He instructed.

Regardless of her startled worry, Bianca nodded in response as Blade paddled his way out to the middle of the village, halting his stop in the middle of the sandy lanscape and facing the valley of the advancing vicious apes responsible for the attack on one of his family members; his teeth clenched in a vicious growl and his angry glare piercing towards the opposing party.

Suddenly, a reddish aura shimmered around the purple dragon's body, immediately separating the sand from his feet and fore front. It was something that managed to halt the advancing apes, including the leader, just a few yards from Blade in reaction to this.

Ember, Bianca, and Sparx, save the child, grew in surprising shock upon what they were seeing. Yet, witnessing it became an anticipation to them.

"Long ears, is that what I think it is?" Sparx asked.

In silence, Bianca nodded.

"Yeah."

At each passing moment, the aura grew intense while the growling purple dragon's orbs glowed darkly in the apes' direction.

* * *

In the throne room, Flaron's eyes, which gave off a coloration of purple, shot open upon the sensation of power that he felt.

The sudden action grew startling, yet surprising to him. Regardless, it brought an evil smirk to his face upon recognition to this power.

"The dark power has awakened. Well done, young one!" He spoke in a different tone before emitting an evil chuckle.

* * *

With the reddish energy still pulsating within him, Blade kept his stance, his growling and glaring hatred still evident in his eyes towards the apes, whom has yet to make a move, but were instilled with hidden emotions upon the purple dragon's actions.

After a while, Blade managed to speak.

"No one…harms my family. _No one_."

Instantly, upon the leader's desperate command, the apes took aim of their arm gauntlets, but weren't able to fire a shot for Blade immediately opened his maw to let out a single piercing horrific scream attack, Bianca, Ember, and Sparx being quick to cringe their faces and shield their ears from the deafening sound.

As time virtually slows, the attack was red and circular on approach towards the enemy. It expanded outward to an increasing degree in size.

Time immediately reverted to normal as the attack managed to reach the apes, which resulted in strong paralysis upon all of them, the sizzling effects of the attack surging through their bodies like electricity leaving the only expression on their faces to be that of the power's namesake: _Fear_.

As the bodies of the apes, whose maws were spluttering blood, constantly convulses from the attack, Blade, to the other's startling notice, applied a slow, dark smirk to his face before speaking in a tone that sent a chill down their spines.

"Be afraid." He spoke, darkly.

Almost instantly, upon the strong effect of the attack, each of the apes' head exploded, their blood and brain matter scattering in different directions while their bodies fell to the ground in the midst of their own blood.

Immediately following that action, the powerful aura faded before Blade fell to his left side in an unconscious state, which resulted in revealing Dawn, whose expression was stunned shock, practically to hide the horror in her eyes upon what she has witnessed from the front door of the safe haven.

'_Blade_' Dawn thoughts spoke.

Hunter and Wind, who has already managed to get the other hostages inside grew aware of this as well as Terradon, who grew in awe upon this.

"Whoa. Where did Blade come up with that?" Terradon asked, yet no one answered.

Then, Hunter looked from Blade's position to find an injured Ember as while as Bianca and Sparx positioned at the wedge of two homes.

"Terradon, stay with Dawn." Hunter instructed as Terradon looked to him.

"But can I help?"

Hunter nodded.

"You can help us out when we get Blade and the others inside. Now stay with Dawn."

Terradon nodded.

"Got it."

"Let's go, Wind."

"Right behind you." Wind spoke before dashing out towards the wedge area shortly before taking note of the re-spawning of the apes from the large crystals in the area.

Instantly, they took aim with their respective weaponry and fired their projectiles, shattering two large crystals in the process.

Hunter raced to the wedge to tend to Ember while Wind snagged Blade and followed suit.

"You all right?" Hunter asked.

As her blood constantly gudhes from the harsg injury, a grunt of pain emitted from the pink dragoness before speaking.

"You mind getting this thing out of me? It hurts like hell when I try it because of the nerve area."

Hunter nodded before immediately grasping the killing object and retracting it from the injury, a strong grunt of pain emits from Ember as a result of the action.

Afterwards, Bianca got to work on the healing spell for her injury while speaking to Hunter.

"Are the apes still out there?"

Hunter nodded.

"Yeah. Wind and I will take care of them as well as the crystals in this vicinity."

"And Spiky?" Sparx asked while looking to the purple dragon with worry.

"He's unconscious right now. He's no good to us in that condition, which is why Terradon is going to assist us later on." He said to Sparx before Wind noticed the dragonfly's presence and appeareance.

"Wait a minute. Sparx, what are you doing out here? Why aren't you protected? Why aren't you drained of energy? More importantly, what happened to you?"

Hunter wondered that, too, but kept his attention to Blade, Ember and Bianca.

In silence, Sparx's expression grew clueless to the questions as he observed his silver body.

"You know something, I haven't the slightest idea on either front." His stunned tone momentarily masking his expression upon this new development.

Before Wind could question any further, Hunter spoke.

"Questions later. Bianca, when you're done with Ember, both of you go into the haven and take Blade with you."

Bianca looked to Hunter and nodded before getting back to the healing process while Ember nodded as well.

Hunter looked to Wind.

"Wind, you come with me. We got crystals and apes to deal with."

Wind nodded in response before both archers started their leave to do the ordeal.

Bianca, having been finished healing Ember, wasted little time in carrying Blade while avoiding his sharp adamantine spikes.

She stood to her feet while, with one hand, helped Ember to hers.

Afterwards, the two females, including Sparx and with an unconscious Blade, started towards the middle house, momentarily looking back towards battle area where Hunter and Wind were taking care of business on their front.

'_Please be safe, you two._' Bianca's thoughts spoke before her attention went to the unconscious Blade while her worried thoughts diverted to the matter involving the purple dragon. '_Oh, young Blade, to be able to wield such power and not know of its true origin. Let us hope that you'll be able to wake up through that._'

* * *

_**Wow! Looks like Blade learned a new breath attack. But can it be controlled since it is of 'dark' origin? We'll find out soon enough. Keep on the lookout for more. Ciao**_!

_In the next chap, Blade gets a disturbing vision as well as another test for his new breath attack_.


	19. The Test of Fear

Chapter Eighteen: **The Test of Fear**

* * *

Inside the hatch in the dragon village, Flame, still recuperating from his injury, laid comfortably on a soft cushion that he recently requested since he grew weary of laying up against a stale rock.

Although despite his comfort on the soft cushion, boredom and worry managed to seep into his being altogether. He wanted to be out there where the action was: To help Blade, and more importantly, to keep both Ember and Dawn safe from harm. That was unlikely to happen because of the injury he sustained, which left his mind in disappointment. But he kept a straight face nonetheless.

Suddenly, from the corner of his right eye, Flame managed to catch eyesight of Doctor Stein-tail, who was waltzing slowly by the orange dragon's position observing a clipboard.

It was then that Flame remembered the information on the crystals that Hunter has yet to explain.

"Um, excuse me. Doctor Stein-tail?"

Stein-tail looked towards the orange dragon with a greeted smile while lowering the clipboard.

"Ah, Flame, good to see you. How are you holding up?"

Flame nodded.

"I'm getting there. Listen, I was told that you have given info on the crystals."

"Yes, I believe that I told Hunter. But didn't he—" Stein-tail started before Flame interrupted.

"Didn't get much of a chance to hear him out, which is why I'm turning to you. What information do you have?"

* * *

(**Two Hours Later**)

Amidst the brewing sandy wind, a powerful earth shot erupted against three small apes while the small nuisances were launched in mid-air over a large crystal where Terradon shortly shattered the shimmering energy-draining object by use of his new silver horns.

Hunter and Wind, after taking head shots of their respective number of large apes, managed to take a substantial amount of large crystals as well as the small crystals with the young earth dragon's help.

Now the deceased corpses of small and large apes, as well as their bloody life fluids, littered the ground as the force field started to fade upon their actions.

Hunter, Wind, and Terradon, who has met back up with each other moments later, took note of the activity.

"Okay, the field is down, which means our work is done here." Wind said, with his crossbow weaponry grasped in his left paw, resting on his left shoulder.

Hunter nodded.

"Indeed. But it's not over yet. We still have a job to do."

Terradon nodded.

"Yeah, we have to find my grandfather."

With his gaze to Terradon, Wind shrugged his shoulders in a clueless manner.

"But we don't know where he is."

"Maybe the villagers know." Hunter spoke. "Come on, let's head to the hatch."

Terradon and Wind nodded in response before they waltzed in the direction to where the hatch was located.

* * *

In the bowels of Blade's own unconsciousness, distorted, rippled images of recent events littered his mind from the incident at the dragon village and the island, to the one in the Peace Keeper's realm.

Images of blood, warpath, and death as well as the images of its antagonists

'_Blade_.' A mysterious, ominous voice echoed. '_You must fulfill your destiny: __**Kill the dragon hunter**__._'

* * *

**A soft gasp escaped the purple dragon's maw as Blade awoke with a startle, his eyes widened, but loosened a bit in relaxation.**

**He started to strain his body upright from its previous position only to be slightly startled by the presence of a worried and concerned dragoness gazing upon him from his right side.**

**"Are you all right?" She asked.**

**Blade grew silence as he blinked his eyes to get a better examination of the dragoness only to shortly realize that it was Cynder, in her young form, next to him. Along with it, came another anticipation: _He was in a dream_.**

**"C-Cynder?"**

**The black dragoness nodded, the worried and concerned expression still intact to her facial feature.**

**"Yeah. You, uh…you all right?"**

**Blade diverted his gaze from her and nodded.**

**"Yeah, I think so." He said shortly before he started straining himself to stand on all four.**

**Once he succeeded in doing so, he started surveying his surroundings to find that he was in the middle of a clearing area. The concrete flooring that he stood on was greatly designed to resemble a very seductive looking, evil dragoness.**

**Blade took note of the flooring and the design, but disregarded it for a while as he resumed his look around the place. Further from his position in the middle, he saw three doors: One on his front, one on his left and one on his right. All three sharing a significant purpose to his task.**

**"Uh, how long was I out?" Blade asked, his gaze still to his surroundings as Cynder paddled next to him on his left side with only a short gap distance between them.**

**"Not long."**

**Then, Blade turned his puzzled gaze to her.**

**"What happened?"**

**Cynder turned to gaze him and noticed the puzzled expression.**

**"What, to you?" She spoke. "You mean, what happened to you?"**

**Blade nodded.**

**"Yeah."**

**Her gaze slightly diverted from the purple dragon's view, Cynder grew silence with a grim expression suddenly etched on her face, to Blade's notice.**

**"Well, Blade…" She started, her gaze returning to Blade. "Let's just say that you had managed to access one of the dark elements."**

* * *

As the rescued villagers, including Ember, were resting and recuperating from their previous ordeal, the unconscious form of Blade was positioned on a soft cushion and was under the watchful worried eyes of Dawn and Sparx while Bianca stood by the wall near the entry door to await Hunter and the others' return.

Throughout that time, Dawn's mind was left in question in pertaining to Blade. _What was that power that he displayed?_

She didn't know, but then again, she has witnessed Blade being able to do things a normal dragon could not, which he has explained on more than one occasion. This power was obviously another one of them. But there was something behind that power that sent frightening chills down her spine. Something that could only be described with only one word: _Dark_.

Whatever that power was, it seemed to have knocked Blade into the state that he is currently in, which pretty much worried Dawn to an extent.

Sparx diverted his gaze to her and noticed that she bored the same expression as him towards Blade.

"Hey, he's going to be okay." The dragonfly spoke, his expression etched of reassurance.

"I know, it's just…" She trailed off a bit, and then resumed. "Before he passed out, I saw him with this red, pulsing energy surrounding his body. And by use of this power, he decapitated those apes by a single scream. And—"

"You're afraid of him, aren't you?" Sparx interrupted, his expression turned stern in recognition to where the conversion was going.

Dawn nearly grew startled by the dragonfly's words, but eased her stature with a comforting sigh and stayed her gaze to Blade. Both parties too engrossed in their related topic on the purple bluish dragon to notice the hatch entry door opening to let in Hunter, Wind, and Terradon while Bianca noticed, ran to the veteran archer, and provided him a hug.

"No." She spoke, shaking her head softly. "No, it's not Blade that I'm afraid of. It's this power that he has. I mean...you should've seen what it did to those apes."

Sparx nodded.

"I know. I was there."

"And so were we."

Both Dawn and Sparx looked behind them and saw Hunter, Bianca, Wind, and Terradon with equal expressions of sternness on their faces.

After a while, Hunter, releasing his embrace of the female sorceress, started his approach towards Dawn and Sparx's position.

"Allow me to explain." The veteran archer spoke.

* * *

**Blade's expression etched of confusion upon what the black dragoness has spoken of.**

**"I'm-I'm sorry. Dark elements?"**

**Cynder took note of his expression, but nodded regardless.**

**"Yeah. You see, Blade, dark elements are the type of powers that are fused by negative emotions."**

**"Negative emotions?" He questioned.**

**Cynder nodded.**

**"Yeah. Observe."**

**As Cynder looked to the monitoring imagery in front of her, Blade followed her example only to be greeted by a stunning sight.**

**He saw himself in the middle of the village on the sandy landscape unleashing a powerful reddish screech attack that not only paralyzed the apes, but also decapitated each of them in a fashion that can only be described as __****explosive****.**

**Upon that sight, Blade grew beyond horrified upon his own actions.**

**"Oh, God. Did I—" He stopped and gulped the saliva down his throat before resuming. "Did—Did I do all of that?"**

**Out of concern, Cynder looked to Blade and notice the horror in his eyes.**

**Regardless, she nodded to his question.**

**"Yes. Yes, you did, Blade. But at least you did it for a righteous reason."**

**Not wanting to look at the imagery anymore, Blade diverted his view downward and eased his expression at the same time the image disappeared before thinking on the black dragoness' words.**

**_'I did it for a righteous reason? But why_?' His thoughts wondered.**

**He tried to find some recollection into the event until his distorted memories suddenly settled on a certain pink dragoness falling victim to a spear upon her heroic act.**

**After a while upon that image, Blade exhaled air from his maw and nodded.**

**"Yeah. I did it for Ember." He said, his view stayed downward as Cynder nodded comprehensively before the purple dragon resumed. "I mean...they shot her from behind after she saved a child. And seeing her in that vulnerable state reminded me so much of what has happened with my mother back on the outskirts of the village. After that, all I ever thought about was hurting them right back."**

**"And you did." Cynder spoke with a reassuring smile as Blade gave his attention to her. "Trust me, you did."**

**Then, her smile slowly diverted to a grim frown as Blade notice.**

**"But I would be careful."**

**"Why?"**

**Cynder wanted to answer, but instead, she grew silence for a while, and then spoke.**

**"Come on, let's start your training."**

**Although confused by the sudden change of subject, Blade nodded as he and Cynder, both sitting on their haunches, viewed their attention towards the three doors.**

**"You see these doors?" She asked.**

**Blade nodded in response as Cynder resumed.**

**"These doors play a very significant part in controlling your new found element."**

**"Which is?" Blade asked as his questionable gaze directed towards Cynder, who looked upon him with the same grim expression as before.**

**And his question was relevant, Cynder thought, since he has no knowledgeable details of this new power.**

**"Fear."**

**Afterwards, Blade took this new information to mind before returning his gaze, along with Cynder, to the doors.**

**"The mastery of fear consist of three things: _Recognition, Sustain, and Conquer_."**

**Then, Cynder and Blade directed their attention towards the first door on the left that's labeled '_Recognition_.'**

**"Your first test is door number one: '_Recognition_.'" She spoke before turning her attention to Blade, whose expression grew a bit uncertain at this point.**

**Cynder noticed, the grim expression from earlier replaced with a straight face.**

**"You ready?" She asked.**

**Despite his uncertainty, Blade nodded in response as Cynder stepped aside for him to approach towards the first door.**

**When he got close enough, the door slid vertically open before a bat-like creature known as the dreadwing instantly took a dashing flight out the entryway overhead, screeching loudly while doing so.**

**The sudden reaction startled Blade to an extent as he crouched from harm's way while the creature flew over him.**

**As the winged creature flew upward several feet in the air, it turned around and started downward towards the purple dragon.**

**Blade quickly took notice and, out of instinct, opened his maw to unleash his new elemental attack. But, to his shock, nothing but his breath of air managed to escape his maw.**

**_'The hell?_' His thoughts wondered. '_Why can't I—?'_**

**The screeching sound deterred him from his train of thought as he looked and immediately ducked and rolled, to the right side, out of the way from the speeding dreadwing, who nearly chomped down on the young purple dragon.**

**The creature flew upward once again as Blade was able to catch sight of the winged beast, his eyes widened, displaying timid-ness seeing that he was unable to use his new powers against this beast.**

**He tried using his other elements in a desperate attempt to defend himself, including the use of will by summoning his adamantine all over his body, yet the end results were the same, which means he was defenseless.**

**Upon that knowledge, he was shaken… with fear.**

**As if on cue, the dreadwing, hovering in the air at the moment, took a nosedive down towards its prey, screeching loudly along the way.**

**Blade wanted to move, but found himself paralyzed in fear while his breath shivered in reaction.**

**As the creature got midway towards the purple dragon's position, the beast opened its maw for an appetizing feast while Blade cringed his eyes shut, diverted his head away and shielding his face with his right wing whilst awaiting his fate.**

**But it never came. No sudden impact.**

**Once the purple dragon realized that, he opened his eyes and looked to find that a hail of black mist surrounded him.**

**As Blade tried to process this new sight, his thoughts went back on Cynder's words.**

**"Anticipate my own fear." He spoke.**

**Then, he heard footfalls as he looked to find a smiling black dragoness approaching him.**

**"Ha, Ha. Now you're getting somewhere."**

**Staring at her for a while, Blade grimaced in irritation before speaking.**

**"Getting somewhere? Are you crazy? I could've been killed. I mean, that thing could've eaten me whole."**

**"But it didn't eat you, did it?" She spoke, her smile still intact regardless of Blade's irritable expression. "You dodged and evade without the use of your elements and such."**

**"Yeah, why is—"**

**With his attention diverted slightly from Cynder, Blade halted his sentence upon a sudden realization as the black dragoness notice and kept her confidence smile.**

**"I think you know why."**

**"Because you wanted me to recognize my fear." He spoke with his attention returned to the black dragoness.**

**Cynder nodded.**

**"That's right, hence the sign engraved on the door. To recognize your own fear, you didn't need your elements or your adamantine to accomplish that." She spoke while Blade instantly managed to get the idea.**

**"All I needed to do was not to attack it, but to be afraid. Acknowledge my fear."**

**Cynder nodded once again.**

**"Right, now you're catching on."**

**"But I don't get it. Why be afraid? I mean...you can't expect me to run and hide from my enemies for the purpose of a test. I practically committed myself—"**

**"I know you made a commitment, Blade, first of all." Cynder interrupted, with a stern look in her eyes. "And secondly, who said anything about running and hiding? The purpose of this test is to _recognize_ your own fear. Please pay attention."**

**In silence, with a deep sigh of calm, Blade nodded.**

**"Right. Sorry, it's just that—How is recognizing my own fear poses any meaning to my task?"**

**"It poses meaning because—and I want you to bare this in mind--fear is in everyone, Blade. No one is immune to it, not even you. Think about what happened with your mother. What was your reaction to that?"**

**Diverting his gaze a bit from the black dragoness' feature, Blade, his expression giving way to slight intimidation, hesitated upon the question for a while in hopes to avoid the subject out of fear of reliving that event.**

**Unfortunately, his expression didn't go unnoticed as Cynder nodded with her stern expression intact.**

**"Mm-hmm. That's what I thought."**

**Blade looked to Cynder in confusion upon her statement.**

**"What do you mean? I didn't say anything."**

**Cynder shook her head.**

**"You didn't have to. I saw your face: A face displaying intimidation."**

**Blade almost retorted to her in his defense following her comment, but realized that she was right. He was afraid, afraid for his mother, afraid for his friends, afraid for everyone.**

**"You're right. I am afraid."**

**Cynder nodded.**

**"Blade, it's okay to be afraid." She spoke as Blade looked to her, listening intently. "Because everyone has that kind of normal emotion in them. All it takes is for you to conquer it, which is the purpose for door number three. But first, you have to deal with door number two. You ready?"**

**Blade nodded in response as Cynder looked forward to the doors, her face slowly returned to a grim expression as the purple dragon noticed by a side glance, yet following her example and looked back at the doors.**

**Then, Cynder and Blade gazed over to the door on the right labeled '_Sustain_.'**

**"All right, let's get started."**

**Both Blade and Cynder fully turned and faced the second door on the right as the purple dragon's face grew determined, yet was anxious to know what to expect from behind the door.**

**With her grim facial feature intact, Cynder took note of his expression from a side glance.**

**"So what do I hope to expect from this?" He asked with his attention stayed to the door and his expression intact.**

**Cynder grew silence for a while before speaking.**

**"Let's just say that you won't like where this test is headed."**

**Instantly, Blade's facial expression changed to confusion upon her comment as he looked to her.**

**"Why? What do you—?" He started to question before he quickly faced forward with a determined face upon the sound of the door sliding open in the same vertical fashion as before.**

**But what lies behind that door slowly threw Blade into a world of terror.**

**"Dawn?" He spoke, his tone quivering.**

**There, he saw his young sun dragoness friend who was braced with a metallic collar around her neck while a strong chain was attached to the collar.**

**A large ape held the chain in his right hand and a whip, with four whipcords along with small mace-like objects at the end, in the other hand.**

**Terror was still to Blade's eyes upon this display.**

**"Cynder, what the hell—" He started to question.**

**But when he looked to the side, he saw that the black dragoness was nowhere in sight.**

**'_Where the hell is she?_' His thoughts desperately wondered.**

**But he chose not to worry about that now. Instead, he looked over towards Dawn's and the ape's position.**

**"Dawn!!" He shouted.**

**Struggling against her binds with her eyes clenched shut and her teeth grinded, Dawn cracked open one eye to find the purple dragon standing outside the door.**

**"Blade." She managed to choke out the word before following it up with a bloodcurdling cry of pain resulting from a whiplash attack from the ape directed at her back, which shredded the skin and created bloody scars.**

**Instantly, Blade started to sprint towards her position in his attempt to save her, but grunted in pain upon slamming into some kind of invisible barrier, which, as a result, staggered his body back.**

**Shaking his head from the impact, Blade quickly looked over towards Dawn's position only to find, to his horror, that the ape, who was grinning ever so sadistically, has un-holstered a sharp pointy sword.**

**Releasing the chain from his grasp, the ape approached the injured dragoness as Blade, his purple orbs widened in terror, shook his head upon notice.**

**"Oh, no, no, no. Please, no, don't you dare touch her. You hear me? Don't you—"**

**Blade's words came to an abrupt halt as the ape instantly took a swipe to the little dragoness' head, decapitating her, while her blood spewed about like a geyser.**

**"NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!" Blade bellowed while tears streamed from his eyes.**

**Instantly, the ape sharply glared in the purple dragon's direction as Blade, tears still present in his eyes, slowly looked from his deceased friend's corpse and narrowly glared hatefully towards the ape held responsible for this heinous deed while his teeth bared to fangs with a vicious, scornful snarl.**

**"You…monster." His quivering voice whispered as the ape snarled in his direction in return. "You…fucking…MONSTER!!!!!!!"**

**Then, suddenly, a familiar, powerful reddish aura surrounded the young purple dragon's body. All sense of reality escaping the youngling's mind at the moment, as the only thing on his mind was one thing: _Kill_.**

**With a hateful growl escaping his maw, his eyes were absent of his pupils while it took on a glow of red as they narrowed to a glare at his enemy.**

**Slowly crouching down and with the powerful aura intensifying, Blade lunged forward, instantly shattering the barrier in front of him that separated him from the door.**

**However, before he could get within inches his enemy, the door slammed shut, forcing him to collide into it. Luckily, he wasn't strong enough to break through it.**

**But the closed door didn't stop the angered youngling as he stood on his hind legs following the collision and, by use of his forepaws, started clawing his way through the door--roaring throughout each vicious swipe-- where his claw marks were visible on the strongly wooden frame.**

**"Blade!!!!" A voice snarled.**

**Sharply, Blade turned around and saw the black dragoness, Cynder, who had a stern hardened look in her eyes, positioned several feet away from his position.**

**"Sustain yourself!" She ordered.**

**In his blind rage, Blade sprinted over towards the black dragoness position while Cynder, with an inward snarl, crouched down in position to pounce.**

**Blade only managed a few feet before he lunged forward while Cynder did the same.**

**The purple bluish dragon and the black dragoness collided against each other before hitting the concrete ground with Cynder at the bottom and Blade on top.**

**While on the ground, Cynder moved her head left to avoid a bite attack from the enraged purple dragon, and then moved her head right from another one before, with her paws heading his thrashing arms at bay, delivering a head butt to him.**

**Blade's head recoiled from the attack shortly before Cynder swiftly reversed the maneuver on him, granting her dominance over the purple dragon.**

**To ensure no escape, Cynder held both of Blade's arms down with her own, which in turn also held his wings as well, and then, used her barb tail to hold his tail at bay to ensure no attack from behind.**

**She needn't worry about his hind legs since her strong body was able to keep that down as well.**

**In his snarling rage, Blade started chomping at the black dragoness while struggling against her as Cynder, the stern hardened face never leaving her, did as best she could to hold him down and avoiding his attacks.**

**"Blade, listen to me. Try to sustain yourself. What you saw just now was an illusion. It is not real. Try to remember where you are."**

**After a short while, Blade consciously seized his thrashing while the aura appears to be slowly subsiding. Then, his purple orbs started to return as he gazed upon the black dragoness.**

**"Cynder?"**

**Despite her previous expression, concern masked her feature as Cynder nodded.**

**"Yeah, it's me."**

**Then, the entire situation dawned on the purple dragon as he grew on alert while the aura was only partially subsided and start to slowly rise upon Blade's emotion of fear.**

**"Dawn. Where—"**

**"She's alive, Blade. She's with friends." Cynder interrupted.**

**"B-But I saw—"**

**"What you saw wasn't real, Blade. I'll explain as soon as you sustain this aura around you."**

**Blade was about to speak, but then he felt the reddish aura rising back again.**

**"Oh, no, it's rising up again. I can feel it." He spoke.**

**"Then try to sustain it. Remember who you are, and more importantly, remember your friends and family."**

**Blade nodded and wasted little time before closing his eyes.**

**Afterwards, a series of memories intruded young Blade's mind: Memories of his mother, his many friends, and family.**

**After a while, he felt the reddish energy subsiding completely.**

**Then, as he opened his purple orbs, he started panting from the experience before looking to Cynder, who had a smile on her face.**

**"Welcome back."**

**Swallowing a bit of saliva down his throat, Blade nodded before Cynder got from on top of him, allowing the purple dragon to strain his body back to an upright position.**

**When he succeeded, he, after a bit of silence, looked to Cynder with an apologetic expression in his eyes while the black dragoness notice, with a slow, straight expression present on her face.**

**"My God, Cynder, I'm sorry."**

**Cynder shook her head.**

**"No need to apologize, Blade. After all, I said you wouldn't like where this was headed. Besides, this was merely a test to see if you can be able to sustain the aura of fear should events like _that_ ever occur. And you did."**

**Despite Cynder's words, Blade felt a hint of doubt and worry about this.**

**"Yeah, thanks to you. I can see now why you wanted me to be careful with this dark element. But what I saw felt so much real. I mean, I don't know if I can be able to handle this dark power on my own if this does happens for real. If my friends were killed in such a way like that."**

**"Listen, when a bad situation turns to worst, just try not to lose yourself again, okay? Heed my words on this: Remember who you are, your friends, and your family. Only then will you be okay."**

**Blade nodded with a soft smile, taking these words into account before issuing his gaze to Cynder, who returned his gaze in kind.**

**"What?" She spoke, wondering why his smiling gaze was upon her at the moment.**

**"You know, those are bold spoken words. In fact, it almost seems like you are speaking from experience."**

**With her smile intact, Cynder spoke.**

**"Blade, I want you to look to the design on the ground. Tell me what you see."**

**Blade complied and looked to the ground with Cynder following suit.**

**"I see the image of a dragoness judging by the curves of the body. Why?" He asked with his gaze stayed to the design.**

**"Notice anything familiar?"**

**Blade nodded.**

**"Yeah, she got black scales."**

**"And?"**

**"A long tail with a barb scythe at the end."**

**"And?"**

**"And, uh…"**

**As Blade took a narrow closer look at the design, recognition formed on his face before he gazed to Cynder, who already looked to him with a smile to her face.**

**In disbelief, Blade looked back at the design, and then to the black dragoness standing beside him. Then, he looked back at the design, and then to Cynder.**

**When he managed to put two and two together, his facial expression grew of shock upon a sudden revelation.**

**"Oh, no goddamn way. You—"**

**He halted as she nodded in response.**

**"You-You were—"**

**She nodded.**

**"Yep."**

**"That-That was you?" He asked, momentarily shifting his attention to the design and Cynder.**

**Once again, she nodded.**

**"Double yep."**

**"B-But that's not possible. You're practically my age."**

**Cynder chuckled.**

**"Trust me, Blade. You haven't seen my true form yet. But you will in time."**

**"Oh." Blade spoke, although slightly confused by this.**

**"Anyway, you spoke about experience." She spoke, as her expression slowly grew stern and hard with her smile diverted in a straight position. "I showed you this because this form is who I once was in the past, forced to grow from my young form to this evil adult form by use of the darkness controlled by a malevolent being known as Malefor, The Dark Master."**

**"The Dark Master? I heard Ignitus speaking about him, just not by a real name. He said that you and Spyro defeated him."**

**Cynder nodded.**

**"Yeah, we did. Anyway, during my time with Malefor, he taught me how to use one of the dark elements. One of them being fear."**

**"Really?"**

**"Yeah, but as I said before, you have to be very careful in using this power. It is not called the dark element for nothing, you know. And it's not to be taken lightly."**

**Blade nodded in comprehension.**

**"Oh. So what now?"**

**"We go to door number three." Cynder spoke, a confident smile returning on her face. "It's time for you to conquer your fear."**

**As Cynder turned to face the middle door labeled '_Conquer_,' Blade waltzed over and stood beside her while following her example.**

**"They say to conquer fear is to conquer Death itself. Your task is to conquer your fear against those who instill fear onto others. Find your courage and you're liable to succeed."**

**With a comprehensive nod from the purple dragon, Cynder stepped aside as Blade crouched his forelegs and forefronts into a stance, his expression etched with determination.**

**But as soon as the door slid vertically open, his stance loosened and his expression grew of horror at the sight before him.**

**"Mom?" He spoke, his tone etched with worry and fear.**

**There, his mother was bound to the wall in chains from head to feet and tail. Her bodily being etched of the bloody scars and was barely conscious as Blade wasted little time in rushing over to her aid.**

**No sooner that he had paddled in that direction that the two apes, both wielding weapons like the spiked mace and a battering club, leaped off the area where the ice dragoness was held and landed onto the concrete landscape in front of the youngling, forcing him to halt his advances.**

**Chuckling evilly, the two large apes towered over the young dragon, their shadows overtaking the youngling's feature as Blade's eyes gave way to intimidation shortly before a spiked mace, held by the ape on the right, came in contact with the right side of his body.**

**With a painful grunt, Blade was sent soaring in mid-air before tumbling to the concrete floor, eventually coming to a stop on his stomach.**

**His fangs grinded in pain, the young purple dragon, his eyes cringed shut in endurance to the pain, struggled and strained to stand, the bloody injury that the weapon has caused was evident to his right thigh.**

**His movement sparked a surge of pain from the injury, but miraculously, Blade, through endurance of the pain, managed to stand on all four before opening his purple orbs to catch sight of another ape on approach to his position with the clubbing bat in hand.**

**Blade thought about evading from the ape, but then he looked over to his captive mother before diverting his gaze a little downward, thinking on Cynder's words.**

**' _Your task is to conquer your fear against those who instill fear onto others. Find your courage and you're liable to succeed_.'**

**Those words slowly begin to instill Blade with a sense of stern courage in his bodily being. It was a courage that he thought that had left him for a little while since the incident with Ember.**

**When she got hurt, he felt fear, the fear of losing a family member. Afterwards, everything went blank and dark for him in his subconscious mind while a seed of anger and hatred took place of that subconscious-ness.**

**By now, the large ape towered over the youngling with its arm wound back in the position to strike with his club weaponry.**

**As time virtually slows, the weaponry descended downwards towards the purple dragon.**

**Blade's purple orbs diverted to the danger that descends over him and as time reverted to normal, the purple bluish dragon rolled his body to the left side just as the club collided with the concrete landscape, debris kicking up upon impact.**

**By the time the ape knew his mistake, he turned his head to find Blade on his left side before swiftly swinging the bat in a straight line towards the youngling.**

**Blade quickly ducked and jumped up from a second swift swing of the bat from the ape.**

**In mid-air, Blade hovered by the flap of his wings, his stern courageous expression intact.**

**By the time, the ape saw him in the air, he attempt another swing of the bat before Blade instantly opened his maw and unleashed not one, not two, but multiple red, circular patterns of energy towards the ape.**

**Upon contact, the ape grew paralyzed, electricity sizzled over his body which resulted in him dropping his bat to the ground as Blade landed softly on the ground before the fiend disintegrated in black mist.**

**"Hmm. Batter up." Blade spoke before his attention diverted to the ape with the spiked mace in hand.**

**Instantly, without a second thought, the ape dashed over towards the youngling's position, swinging the mace weaponry along the way.**

**During this time, Blade, with his previous expression intact, stood up on his hind legs with his wings outspread.**

**By the time the ape made it towards his position, the spiked mace weaponry descended down on the purple youngling.**

**But before the weapon made contact, Blade swiftly strafed backward while the weapon made impact with the concrete floor, kicking up debris in the process.**

**The move practically surged pain to the youngling's injured right thigh, but he ignored it and kept his attention to the ape.**

**The ape immediately realized his mistake and noticed Blade a few feet from the impact zone.**

**Snagging his weapon back, the ape was about to attack again, but wasn't given the opportunity.**

**By the time he has snagged his weapon back, Blade painstakingly got back on all four and instantly unleashed his newfound fear element onto the unsuspecting ape.**

**The end results were the same as the first ape, only this one managed to be launched off his feet and back first on the ground upon the force of the elemental attack as his body sizzled with paralyzing electricity simultaneously dissipating into black mist while the mace weapon lies lonely on the concrete floor.**

**Closing his eyes, Blade exhaled a breath of calm before opening his eyes to notice Cynder at his right side with a smile etched on her face.**

**"You did good." She complimented.**

**Grunting slightly in endurance to the pain in his thigh, Blade nodded, and then looked over to where his captive mother was only to find that the door was closed shut.**

But it was no surprise to Blade seeing that the whole thing, though he has been told, was an illusion and a test with only the sole purpose of providing the motivation that he needs to overcome the danger.

**"Thanks." He spoke before looking to his injured right thigh. "If only I could've come out of that without a scratch."**

**Cynder regarded his injury and, without a word, braced her left paw—which gave off a slight whitish glow--against it before lining it across while Blade watched her every move.**

**To Blade's stunning startle, the wound was no longer there anymore upon her action.**

**With the expression intact, he looked to Cynder questionably.**

**With her left paw back in position to the ground, Cynder took note of Blade's expression.**

**"I'm healed. How did—" He started before Cynder intervened.**

**"All will be explained in due time, Blade. But right now, you need to wake up."**

**Blade started to speak out of protest in his attempt for answers, but his words to her only came out in stutters before his surrounding was bathed in the same white light.**

**

* * *

**

**_Wow. Looks like Blade managed to control the element of fear. Let's just hope it stays in control that way. Sorry that I have been late on updates. Real world trouble, you know. Anyway, keep on the lookout for more. Ciao_!**

_On the next chap, Blade and the group learn of one of the guardians' whereabouts_.


	20. A Guardian's Whereabouts

Chapter Nineteen: **A Guardian's Whereabouts  
**

**

* * *

**

It was a while that Hunter provided his explanation from the new elemental attack that the purple dragon now possess, to issues surrounding that element that dates back to the past.

Positioned on her haunches, Dawn, her attention diverted slightly from the others, grew silent for a while trying to adjust to the information that was given to her in regards to what transpired with Blade.

Terradon, having to want to know what has happened with his childhood friend, was in the same sitting position next to her with his attention also diverted slightly from the others. And after hearing the explanation, he was silent as well while the others, including Sparx, regarded their expression with the same reaction.

"So, uh…" Terradon started to speak. "Let-Let me, uh…Let's see if I'm able to catch any of this. Um, fear is a dark element?"

Hunter nodded.

"Yeah."

Then, Terradon applied his attention to the others.

"And Blade was able to wield this ability through his negative emotions?"

"Sadly, yeah."

"But if it's a dark element, how is he able to obtain it without exposure to that darkness?" Dawn asked while diverting her attention to the others. "Because you said in your explanation that this element is obtain by—"

"I know what I said." Hunter intervened. "And I wish I had an answer to that. But I don't. It's a mystery to me."

Hunter knew that was a lie by saying that and Bianca knew that too by a glance at him. He knew what was going on with Blade by theory, but kept that info to himself for the time being.

With a slight nod of comprehension, Dawn looked over to where Ember was resting while Terradon and the others noticed and followed her example.

"Well, at least we know _why_ he did it." Terradon spoke.

With her attention still to Ember's resting form, Dawn's thoughts trailed to Blade's earlier words.

"_You are all my responsibility. Your lives matter to me. And I will do whatever it takes to protect you_."

Those true, inspiring words seems to uplift Dawn's spirit, but she often wonders just how much farther will Blade go to protect the ones that he cares for.

She just hopes that he doesn't go too far, because upon Hunter's words, this element is of dark origin. If not controlled properly, he'll give way to this dark power's influence.

The thought of Blade being influenced by this dark power has worried her at this point.

Yet, knowing that he was unconscious and fully capable to revive has strayed her from such worries as she diverted her attention forward shortly before she heard a groaning sound that got her attention sharply back toward the position of the resting pink dragoness, only to find that the tavern owner, Ivan, was slowly waking up a few feet away from the adult dragoness.

Instantly, Terradon went over to where the tavern owner was positioned while Dawn followed him.

When they got there, Ivan was in an upright position while groaning and massaging his forehead from the pounding migraine that intruded upon his head.

Slightly shaking his head of the migraine, Ivan opened his eyes to find Dawn and Terradon in front of him, both dragons' facial expression etched with concern for the tavern owner's well-being.

"Sir, you okay?" Terradon asked.

Ivan didn't say a word as he surveyed his surroundings shortly before noticing Hunter and the others nearby.

Not recognizing any of them, his attention diverted to Dawn and Terradon before speaking.

"Who are all of you?" He asked.

"My name is Dawn." She spoke with a smile.

"And I'm Terradon, grandson of earth guardian, Terrador." Terradon spoke with a proud smile to his face. "Perhaps you've heard of him."

Regardless of his slight migraine, Ivan spoke.

"Yes, I'm familiar with him and the other guardians. Please to make your acquaintance. My name is Ivan."

Dawn and Terradon issued curt, respectful nods.

"Please to meet you." Both dragons said.

Then, his attention went to Hunter and the others, who have approached towards his position seconds later.

"And, uh…" Ivan started to speak before Dawn intervened.

"The veteran archer here is Hunter. The other one next to him is Wind. The sorceress is Bianca, the dragonfly is Sparx." She halted herself for a second while addressing the dragonfly upon notice of the color. "And although I'm perplexed, nice color, Sparx."

"Thanks." The dragonfly replied.

"And, uh..."

Dawn trailed off for a second to divert her gaze to the resting pink dragoness positioned a few feet next to the tavern owner.

Ivan noticed and looked to the other side of his resting area to find the sleeping pink dragoness there.

"That one is my aunt Ember." Dawn resumed. "She and Bianca were the ones who got you and the others out of there."

Regarding Ember's sleeping body, Ivan diverted his attention to the others, especially Bianca and spoke.

"Thank you."

"Welcome, Ivan." Bianca spoke, with a nod and smile.

Slightly shaking his head from the migraine that appears to be coming and going every few seconds, Ivan surveyed his surroundings once more only to stop when his startled gaze came to rest on a certain purple dragon.

"Is that…?" Ivan started to ask, but halted his words and decided to see for himself.

Dawn, Terradon, and the others followed his gaze towards Blade's resting body before Ivan strained himself up and started on approach towards the purple dragon.

Slightly staggering forward and regaining himself, Ivan took a slow approach while observing the sleeping purple dragon.

"That's Blade." Dawn started. "He was the one that was speaking to you out there."

Ivan regarded her comment with a nod, yet kept his attention to Blade and resuming his observation.

Aside from the bluish coloration on the scales and silver thorns protruding all over his body, Ivan sees that this was indeed a purple dragon. But he couldn't help but feel that this dragon resembles so much of a dragon that he met years ago.

During the observation, Dawn and Terradon came to thought on another issue that took place outside.

"Uh, Ivan?" Dawn spoke as Ivan turned his attention to her. "Just a simple question, but back outside, you called him Spyro. Why?"

His gaze diverted a little to the side, Ivan was silent for a minute before answering.

"Maybe it's disorientation, but I guess this dragon reminds me of the dragon that I met years ago along with an ice dragoness I believe."

The comment practically caught Hunter and the others attention.

"Ice dragoness. You mean Glacia?" Hunter asked.

With his attention to the others, Ivan nodded.

"Yes. You know her?"

"Know her? She's part of our family." Hunter started before making a paw gesture towards Blade. "Blade is her son."

Although slightly stunned by the info, Ivan nodded.

"Oh. I see." He spoke before turning his attention back to the resting Blade. "And the father?"

"We don't know." Hunter answered rather quickly, before, upon anticipation of his reaction, calming himself down. "I mean, we know, but we just don't want to talk about it."

In silence, Ivan nodded comprehensively as Ember's bodily form was slowly stirring to an awakened state while the ordeal went unnoticed by the others.

"How, um…" Bianca started. "How did you meet Spyro and Glacia?"

With a deep sigh, Ivan spoke.

"Well, thirteen years ago, by chance or fate, they showed up at my tavern—the one I own--on the east about several miles from here in the middle of a mild, brewing sandstorm. They didn't have anything to eat or drink so I accommodated them as best as I can with drinks and shelter."

As the others listened intently, Ember, who was fully awake, listened in as well as Ivan resumed.

"A day went by from their stay when Glacia came in wondering where Spyro was. I've often wondered that if there was something wrong with him seeing that he has been quiet, distant, and somewhat cold as of late. And by cold, I mean the expression on his face. No emotion."

With the exception of Dawn and Terradon, Hunter and the others, especially Ember, had knowing expressions in their eyes upon remembering the state that Spyro was in since that horrible tragic event.

Regardless, they kept their straight posture before Ivan resumed.

"From what I was told, she eventually found him--thanks to Sophia, ancestors rest her soul--face first down in the middle of the desert and brought him back to the shelter. I helped to revive him while she stayed with him. I don't know what else happened between the two but by the following day, he entered my tavern and simply apologized for how he reacted to me. But in my opinion, it was unnecessary. I wanted to apologize to him myself for getting in the middle of something that I couldn't comprehend. But that didn't stop him from making a friendly paw shake."

Although half of the explanation has brought a smile to his face, his expression went grim upon the next piece of info that he spoke of.

"Then, our village was under attack by apes. Spyro managed to ward them off, but in the end, Glacia was captured, according to him, and he went in search for her. That was the last that I saw of both of them."

Dawn, Terradon, as well as Hunter and the others grew in silence upon the story as Ivan spoke on another issue.

"By the way, where is Spyro?" He asked.

The question itself placed the group, minus Dawn and Terradon, whose minds were left in wonder to the subject, in mournful silence as Ivan noticed.

"Is something wrong?"

"Uh…no." Hunter spoke. "It's just, um…Spyro…is no longer with us. He's dead."

Almost immediately, Ivan's expression, as well as Dawn and Terradon's, grew in sadness upon the news.

"My God, I'm sorry to hear that. How did he—" He started to question before Bianca intervened.

"Ivan, all you need to know is that he died fighting a good cause. That's all."

Seeing that the subject may be too traumatizing to hear once again, Ivan nodded and, despite his saddened state, decided to drop the issue.

"Okay. Fair enough."

No sooner that he finished his words that a soft groaning sound has caught the tavern owner and the others' attention as the sleeping form of Blade started to stir.

"He's waking up." Dawn spoke as Ember strained herself to stand on her hind legs before Hunter and Bianca quickly noticed by surprise.

"Ember, you're awake. How long—" Bianca started to question.

"Long enough to hear the story that he was telling." Ember interrupted before her worried attention diverted to Blade. "What about Blade? Is he all right?"

"He's fine, I think he's waking up. By the way, his name is Ivan."

Ember regarded the adult mole with a nod.

"Nice to meet you."

Ivan nodded in response before their attention went back to Blade.

Meanwhile, the purple dragon in question was groaning softly while his eyes fluttered opened.

His sights were blurred until they came into focus to find that many familiar, worried eyes were on him.

Then, his sights trailed to one individual that was both smiling, yet worried at the same time.

"Dawn." His voice softly spoke.

"Hey, sleepyhead, you all right? I mean...you gave me quite a scare."

"That's makes two of us, sweet cheeks." Sparx spoke, addressing Dawn while looking to Blade.

"Make that three." Terradon followed. "Dude, you all right?"

Blade shook his head a bit from the sudden dizziness.

"You good to stand?" The earth dragon questioned.

"Yeah, I-I, uh…think so."

Blade strained his body upright on all four and succeeded, but staggered a bit due to the dizziness, which resulted in Ember catching his near fall.

Blade looked to Ember.

"Thanks."

Ember provided a loving smile.

"You kidding? I should be thanking you."

Blade wanted to smile for the comment, but his frown stayed to his face upon guilt.

"But you got hurt."

Ember nodded.

"True, yet I am still alive. And, besides Bianca, I have you to thank for that."

Then, Ember provided a soft, gentle kiss to the purple dragon's right cheek while caressing the back of his head afterwards.

Blade nearly blushed upon the action, yet held his composure.

"You truly are Glacia's son."

Blade smile a bit, but the expression slowly diverted to a saddening frown upon the mention of his mother.

"Mom." He softly spoke.

Ember noticed his expression with a saddened frown of her own.

"Hey, don't you worry. You said it yourself that your mother is still alive. Right?"

Blade nodded.

"Well, then, focus on that, and not the bad things."

"I just wish I knew where they are keeping her."

With her gaze diverted downward a bit, Ember nodded slightly.

"So do I, Blade. So do I."

"Blade, I presume?" A voice spoke as Blade looked to find that it was Ivan with a grateful smile to his face.

"You presume right. You are…?"

"My name is Ivan. I own a tavern shop due east of here."

Blade nodded.

"Oh."

"And I would like to personally thank you for saving the villagers here, myself included."

With a smile, Blade nodded.

"Think nothing of it."

Then, Blade's expression came to thought of another issue as he softly sat on his haunches.

"Listen…I've been meaning to ask you. Outside, you called me by a different name: Spyro. Why?"

"Let's just say that you remind me of someone that I knew years ago."

Blade grew silent for a while, and then nodded.

"Oh, okay." He spoke, before getting on to a serious matter. "Listen, the issue outside isn't the only reason why we're here. You see, a day ago, the elder guardians have been taken against their will. We are trying to find them and get them back. I'm to assume that you know of the guardians."

Ivan nodded.

"I do."

"Okay, so my question to you is: Have you seen either one of them? Any one that came around here lately?"

Ivan diverted his attention away from Blade in thought for a while.

"Yes. I saw one during my capture."

His answer abruptly brought the attention of Terradon and the others.

"Do you recall what this guardian looks like?" Blade asked.

Ivan sighed while coming into thoughtful recollection of the event.

"I was a little disorientated at the time, but I think it may have been a green dragon."

All were in stunned silence upon the information, especially Terradon.

"Shit. That's my grandfather. He's here somewhere."

Out of fearful desperation, Terradon, to Blade's notice, directed Ivan's attention to him by use of his tail.

Ivan grew startled by the action, but kept his posture.

Terradon, upon notice of his action, eased himself of his fears at the moment.

"Okay, think back. Where were they taking him?" He asked with a calm stature.

"I think that they were heading far down east past the village where my tavern is located."

Blade nodded.

"Then that's where we're headed."

"But what about the village that they have crossed path with?" Wind asked. "What if they did the same thing there like they did here?"

Blade had time to think this over.

"Good question." He said before diverted his attention to Ivan. "How many villages do you have here?"

Ivan shook his head in uncertainty.

"My memory could be cloudy at times when it comes to directions. But I'm guessing that this village here is on the west side. There are two that are in the north and south region. Given the east that I know of, that makes it four."

Blade nodded before, while standing on all four, leaping off the cushion, and then addressed the situation with the others.

"All right, we're going to have to split up. Half goes to the villages while the other half goes with me farther down the east area."

"I'm with you, Blade." Dawn spoke, paddling to his smile.

"So am I." Sparx followed as he flew next to the purple youngling.

Blade regarded Sparx, but did a double perplexing take upon notice of the silver coloration on his small body.

The dragonfly took notice.

"What?"

"Uh…nice look."

Sparx looked to himself and nearly blushed in embarrassment having almost forgotten about the color.

"Oh, uh, heh, heh…thanks. Don't know how it happened, but thanks."

Regardless of his expression, Blade nodded.

"Oh." He spoke, before his attention went to the others. "Anyone—"

"I'm with you, Blade."

Blade looked to find that Terradon stood beside Dawn with strong determination etched on his face.

Blade issued a curt nod before facing the others again.

"Anyone else?" He asked.

No one spoke a word as Blade felt a soft paw caressing down his back.

Blade looked to find that it was Ember kneeling down to his length with a saddened expression in her eyes.

Blade noticed.

"Ember, what's wrong?"

Ember was silent for a bit.

"Blade, can I count on you to protect Dawn?" She questioned.

Blade nodded.

"Yes. But aren't you coming with us?"

Ember shook her head.

"No, because I'll be going with them to the villages. Half and half, a fair choice."

The statement was a surprise to Blade considering both he and Ember share a common value in the insurance of Dawn's safety.

Blade looked to Sparx, and then back at Ember.

"Uh, Ember, no offense to Sparx—"

"None taken, I think." Sparx spoke before Blade resumed with Ember.

"But other than the healing power of pixie dust, he can't fight. You can."

Ember nodded.

"True. But you'll need him regardless. I can cover more ground with Hunter, Wind, and Bianca."

Blade still felt uncertain about this and before he could protest any further, he felt a paw on his left forepaw.

He looked down to it before looking over to the owner of that paw to be Dawn, who presented him with a comforting smile to her face.

"It's okay, Blade." She spoke softly. "It's okay. Because it's like I said, I am willing to fight by your side regardless of the dangers that are involved."

Those words brought comfort back into Blade's bodily being as he provided a smile to his face before nodding.

"All right." He said.

Then, he looked to Ember and nodded in response.

Ember presented a loving smile before her attention went to Dawn.

"You be careful, sweetie. And stick to this one, okay?"

With a humorous snicker, Dawn nodded.

"Okay, Aunt Ember."

With the smile intact, Ember nodded and stood on her hind legs before going towards Hunter's group as Blade, though hesitant in speech upon a sudden theory to mind, spoke again on the situation.

"And listen, um…when you're done with the east region, trail to our location."

The sudden change of plan was a bit abrupt and it caught Hunter's group as well as Blade's own group by surprise.

"Wait, why?" Wind asked.

"Because if I'm right, and I hope I am, maybe there's a connection with these force fields and the crystals. We find that and destroy it, and then, other than take care of the apes and shelter the villagers, we won't have to worry about it all."

Both groups took this theory to mind for a while.

"Well, it's worth a shot." Hunter spoke, caressing his chin in thought as he looked to Blade. "You think you'll be able to find this source?"

Blade shrugged his shoulders, his wings fluttering in reaction.

"I won't know unless I try. You okay with that?"

After much thought, Hunter and the group nodded in response before Blade looked to his group.

"You guys okay with the plan?" He asked.

With a smile, Terradon nodded along with Dawn and Sparx.

"Yep."

"And are you ready for this?"

Once, again, Terradon, as well as Dawn and Sparx, nodded.

"Ready and willing." Terradon spoke.

Blade looked to Hunter's group.

"You don't have to tell us twice." Wind spoke, brandishing his crossbow.

Blade nodded before looking to Ivan, who apparently was watching the ordeal the whole time since the purple dragon's awakening.

"Well, my friend, this is where we part ways. It was a pleasure meeting you." Ivan spoke.

Blade nodded.

"Likewise. Who knows? By fate or chance, we'll meet again someday."

Ivan shrugged his shoulders.

"We might. You never know."

Blade chuckled inwardly.

"See you around, Ivan."

Ivan nodded.

"Safe journey, young Blade."

Then, with a determined mind, Blade looked and addressed the others.

"All right, guys, let's move. We got a guardian to save."

* * *

_**Looks like Blade and his group are on the search for Terrador while the others sought to rid the other villages of the apes and crystals littering the realm. My original intention was to have Blade awake early after the dream, but I like to get a few scenes out of the way at this point. Plus, I had an original chapter name, but I'm saving that for next chap. Anyway, until next time. Ciao**_!

_In the next chap, Dargaul's forces sought to derail Blade's group in reaching the captive guardian; Ember seeks closure from the past_.


	21. Air Assault

Chapter Twenty: **Air Assault**

* * *

Minutes later, Blade, along with Sparx, Terradon, and Dawn were on flight route to the designated far-off east area while the rest of the group, on account of Ember's inability to carry them all for a flight path, went to the east village by way of portal, which the young earth dragon once again views that as cheating.

Yet, he kept his opinion to himself as they resume flight while the bright sun radiates upon them and the breezy wind brewing passed their bodies.

* * *

Unfortunately for the three younglings and the dragonfly, their very actions are being monitored at the moment as Flaron and Dargaul were surveying them through a holographic monitoring prism. Both displaying stern, menacing expressions on their faces.

"Are your assassins in route?" Flaron asked on a subject that was discussed before the west village incident.

Dargaul provided a curt nod.

"Yes. Once they cross the eastern region of the village area, I'll make sure they are shot out of the sky. Should it fail, there are more waiting for them where they are going."

Flaron nodded.

"Good. Keep me posted."

Afterwards, Flaron made his leave while Dargaul kept his stern, menacing stare to the monitoring prism.

* * *

Ember, Bianca, Hunter, and Wind stood before the force field where the east region village was in view along  
with the crystals and an array of apes.

At the moment, they are looking up to the sky in wait for the younglings to fly pass this area before going in to deal with the problem.

"Jeez, what's taking them so long?" Wind asked, heaving off a sigh from his maw.

"Relax. They'll fly pass here." Hunter reassured him while his attention was still to the skies.

As Bianca had her gaze to the sky, she took a side-glance and noticed Ember, still on her hind legs, looking to the sky, but held a guilty expression to her face.

Right then, the sorceress knew something was wrong. This wasn't the first time that she saw the pink dragoness this way. She saw it on a number of occasions, yet due to the issues at hand, wasn't able to confront Ember on that problem—until now.

"Guys, keep watch. I'll be right back." She spoke.

With their attention still to the skies, Hunter and Wind complied with a nod before Bianca approached towards Ember's position.

When she got there, she took a firm grip of Ember's left wrist, which grasp her attention to the sorceress.

"What is it, Bianca?" She asked while noticing the stern expression on the sorceress' face.

Without a word, Bianca led Ember away from the two archers by only a few feet before speaking.

"Ember, don't do this. Not now, or ever."

Confusion etched on the pink dragoness' face upon the words.

"What are you—"

"You know what I'm talking about!" Bianca interrupted. "Blade cannot know about his father."

Silence issued from Ember at the moment, her confused expression slowly switched to a stern look upon the assumption made, before she spoke.

"Bianca…Glacia's promise is still safe with me."

Upon those words, Bianca's expression grew of confusion as well.

"Then I don't understand. Why—"

She halted her statement immediately as her eyes widened upon a sudden shocking anticipation.

"Ember, no!" She whispered loudly. "No! You cannot tell him that! He's too young!"

Ember shook her head in protest, her face scrunched with guilt while her eyes were on the verge of tears.

"I have to. I want closure from this."

"You already had closure from Glacia." She said before bracing both her hands on Ember's shoulders while locking pleading eyes to the pink dragoness. "Please…do not do this, Ember."

"Keeping the secret about Spyro from him was bad enough, Bianca." She spoke, her voice breaking and her eyes leaking with tears. "But _this_? I mean...I could barely sleep at night remembering the blood that was on my hands."

"I know, Ember. I—I know it's hard. But for Ancestor's sake, he's too young. He wouldn't understand."

"Unless I help him to understand."

"Ember, he _can't_ know this." Bianca's tone grew firm as she resumed. "He cannot know that you tried to kill him while Glacia was gravid with him thirteen years ago. He can't."

Ember cringed her eyes shut while the tears fell as Bianca noticed.

"But why?" Ember asked.

"For the same reason you are keeping the secret about Spyro. The ramifications would be devastating if he were to know the truth of any of this."

Ember knew that Bianca was right. But her guilty conscience was still there, urging her persistently to come clean. And she wanted to so badly. Then, she remembered something before speaking on the issue that the sorceress was hardly anticipating.

"Look, Bianca…" She spoke sternly while sniffing up her tears. "I have promised Glacia along with the others not to mention anything regarding what happened to his father. Nowhere on that list does it say that I promised not to tell him what _I_ have done."

Bianca grew in stunned silence. Ember was right. Keeping the truth about Spyro from Blade was the only promise entrusted upon them. Nothing more.

Slowly, she relinquished her hold on Ember's shoulders before silence settled between them both.

"When are you going to tell him?" Bianca asked.

"Soon. Hopefully whenever I'm alone with him."

A long discomforting silence emanated from the sorceress. Ember may have made a valid point in her statement, but Bianca was still worried on the outcome of this.

"Ember, Blade speaks so highly of you and values you as family. You do realize that if you do this, _if you tell him this_, it will shatter every bit of perception that he has of you. Plus, we just learned back at the hatch that he was able to access a dark element through his negative emotions. Now what do you think is going to happen if you do tell him this?"

That question pretty much triggered a flashback to Ember's mind on that thirteen-year-old incident between herself and Glacia weeks prior to Spyro's demise: The words that she said, the desperate, yet physical actions she took against the ice dragoness that almost resulted in her near suicide attempt.

Ember remembered it all. She experienced how that negative reaction felt.

Ember nodded, her expression stern and saddened.

"From experience, I know _exactly_ what is going happen. And I deserve it."

"And what about Dawn? She would be crushed if she were to know any of this."

"Like I said, I deserve it. All of it."

In silence, Bianca grew uncertain by this.

"Ember, it has been thirteen years since the incident with you and Glacia. Are you absolutely sure about this?"

Without a second thought, Ember nodded.

"Yes."

Silence settled between the two once again and before Bianca was able to speak again, a voice interrupted her.

"Hey! I see them."

The sound of Wind's voice deterred the pink dragoness and the sorceress' attention towards the two archers nearby.

"There they are!" Wind spoke pointing upward to the skies.

Ember and Bianca looked up and saw the younglings in the skies on their designated flight path to the far-east region.

To that acknowledgment, Ember and Bianca, their expressions stern and determined in replacement of their previous looks, ran toward Hunter and Wind's position.

Hunter and Wind noticed as the two females halted their stop in front of them.

"You two ready?" Hunter asked.

Both Ember and Bianca nodded in response as they, with strict determination, all faced the force field before them.

"All right, let's get to work." Hunter spoke before they made a dash through the force field and towards the village area, destroying small and large crystals along the way.

* * *

In the air, Blade, along with the others, looked down to find that the second half of their group are already in play towards the village area.

"So far, so good." Blade spoke.

Unfortunately, while Blade's attention was diverted downward, he failed to notice a shadowy creature headed fast towards him.

Dawn was quick to notice with widened fearful eyes.

"BLADE, LOOK OUT!!" She bellowed, as Blade quickly looked forward, his eyes widened from awareness of the danger coming to form of a bat-like creature.

Quickly, Blade, along with the others, evaded from the screeching creature's path by diving downward, their wings angling back as a result.

As the creature soared passed them, they flew back upward and hovered in the sky before looking to where the creature has gone.

"Great Ancestors, what the fuck was that?!" Terradon asked out of panic, yet his expression was unable to show it.

"A Dreadwing." Sparx confirmed, fear evident in his eyes.

"You're kidding me." Blade spoke, his expression in disbelief as he saw the large approaching bat-like creature from several distances away. "_That's_ a Dreadwing? They look like the same ones that attacked our village."

"That's because they are, Spiky!" Sparx spoke before taking note of an armored ape, armed with a crossbow aimed at the group, mounted on the creature's back. "And if my eyes do not deceive me, it looks like an assassin is mounted on that big boy."

"An assassin?" Blade questioned.

"Or more preferably, a sniper on air."

An arrow escaped the ape's weaponry as it soared towards its victim: _Blade_.

Blade noticed with a gasp escaping his maw before, upon careful concentration, used his extendable adamantine--which shortly bind into the shape of a hardened shield--from his forearms while the projectile shattered to pieces upon collision

As the adamantine retracted back to its original position, Blade, with stern eyes and bare fangs, retaliated with a fireball from his maw, which soared across at breaking speed and instantly made contact with the creature.

The creature screeched in pain while the rider expressed the same reaction as the spreading fiery projectile set them both ablaze, killing them in the process.

As the creature and its rider fell from the skies to its demise, Terradon provided an impressive whistle upon Blade's action.

"Dude, nice!" He complimented, yet Blade kept his stern attention forward.

"Thanks, but I don't think it's over." Blade spoke, which slowly deterred Dawn, Terradon and Sparx's perplexed attention to the purple dragon.

"And, uh…how-how do you know that?" Terradon asked.

But he managed to get his answer in the form of a loud screech from the distance, which caught Dawn, Terradon, and Sparx's sharp attention.

"That's how." Blade spoke.

Upon first inspection, the group saw one dreadwing with an armed ape assassin on board. But what turned out as one assassin-mounted dreadwing turned into three, armed with relatively the same crossbow and in a triangular formation.

The group, with the exception of the intimidated dragonfly, slowly grew stern and alert upon their hostile presence.

"Looks like we got an air assault on our paws." Blade spoke.

"Yeah. Got a plan?" Terradon asked.

"Simple: I take one, you take one, and Dawn takes one. But be careful around these assassins and watch out for those creatures' screech attack."

Terradon and Dawn nodded.

"Noted." Terradon spoke.

"Sparx…" Blade called as the dragonfly flew in front of him.

"Yeah."

"Make sure you stay out of the path of the dreadwing. I wouldn't want you to become lunch."

Sparx issued a salute.

"Aye, aye." He spoke before flying back beside the purple dragon.

As the group stared sternly towards the enemies, the enemies in question were pressing their speed towards their victims' position.

As soon as they were halfway in range, Blade, Dawn, and Terradon quickly broke off their formation.

Specifically, Dawn went left, Terradon went right and Blade soared down while each one of the enemies chased down their respective opponents.

* * *

Terradon was keeping a far distance from his opponent, occasionally dodging screech attacks from the dreadwing and at the same time narrowly avoiding contact with the projectiles of the rider's crossbow arrows.

Since they were on a timetable, the young earth dragon wanted to end the chase quickly with one strong, single earth ammo of his own farther away from his opponent. But his earth shot is only good for close range contact, which means he'll have to get close enough to apply the projectile.

With that thought to mind, he quickly stopped, turned around, and flew straight to his target: The rider, whom, upon note of the youngling's fast approach, started firing his arsenal of arrows while still on the approach.

Upon sight of the projectiles, Terradon was able to quickly dodge and roll is body back and forth from them. And as soon as he was close enough, the earth dragon instantly applied his earth shot to the rider, knocking the screaming ape off his steed upon contact while he fell to his demise.

As Terradon passed the dreadwing, the creature in question turned around after a couple of feet away and went in fast pursuit of the dragon.

Terradon looked back and took note of the soaring creature at his tail.

The young earth dragon growled inwardly in annoyance before halting his flight to a hover and turning around to face the creature soaring in his direction.

With the knowledge of his earth shot being a close range attack, he was willing to make do with what he has got at this point. It might not be of useful effect against these big, monstrous creatures, but it was worth a shot. He believes in the reliability of his friends, but he won't have to rely too much on them unless that was the only option available.

Stern, hardened determination was his expression as his stone eyes glared the creature.

Then, his thoughts trailed to his grandfather, the reason why he was on this quest with Blade from the start, which brings him back on the issue of the timetable that they were on at the moment. He wants to save his grandfather and the last thing he needs is a dreadwing in the way.

'_No one is going to stop me from rescuing you, grandfather. Not even a fucking dreadwing_.' His thoughts spoke.

As soon as the dreadwing was close enough to the earth dragon, the creature opened its maw to chomp down on the youngling at the same time Terradon quickly opened his maw to unleash his earth shot attack.

But no earth shot was unleashed. Instead, an earth-shaped bullet emerged from his maw.

After that action and unaware of the effect, Terradon quickly closed his maw and was able to evade to the right side—while the creature soared passed him—as the projectile entered the creature's mouth and traveled in a straight pattern before, to the earth dragon's startle, creating a bloody exit wound from its back, instilling a searing pain unto the screeching dreadwing.

Terradon watched as the deceased dreadwing fell from the sky.

Still hovering in the sky, Terradon slowly diverted his stunned, yet puzzled gaze forward from the deceased creature's drop point with one thought to mind.

'_Whoa. What the hell was that_?'

* * *

Like Terradon, Dawn has managed a far distance from her opponent as well, occasionally looking back to her opponent and narrowly dodging—left and right--from arrow projectiles fired from the rider on board the dreadwing creature.

She needn't worry about tiring herself out from the flight since—with her being a sun dragoness--the sunlight in the skies was her advantage in power and stamina.

She was also quite aware of the timetable that they were in, which compels her to end the chase quickly.

The obvious technique was to get rid of the rider. The solution for that was her flame breath. But, like Terradon, her breath attack was for close range distance.

Looking behind her, she saw that the rider was taking close aim to her while the dreadwing applied its banshee-like screech towards her.

Then, an idea formed in her mind, a somewhat risky one.

Wasting little time, Dawn, her attention diverted back forward, decided to act on this idea by reducing her flight speed with her wings so the dreadwing could get close and the rider could get an accurate aim.

The rider noticed and kept his aim to the sun-colored dragoness.

As soon as his steed was mid-inches from her, the rider fired the shot only for the sun dragoness to increase her flight speed with her wings again, the arrow missing its mark by one side of her tail.

Growling in anger, the rider took aim again and fired another shot.

Dawn saw it coming from behind her and, as time virtually slows, flew upward while the projectile came and missed her from underneath her sun-shaped tail tip.

Time reverted to normal as Dawn performed a mid-wide loop just enough so she would be close enough overhead of the rider.

The rider looked up and noticed the dragoness overhead and before he could aim his crossbow, Dawn, upon notice, opened her maw and unleashed her flame breath on the assassin, setting the screaming ape aflame.

Consequently, the flames spread to the dreadwing, who screeched in pain upon the burning sensation and fell to its demise along with the rider.

Dawn, having regained her position of flight, looked down towards her handiwork before issuing a sigh of relief from her maw.

"Hey, you okay?" A voice spoke.

Dawn looked to her left side to find Terradon next to her with a concerned look to his face.

Dawn nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

In silence, Terradon looked down towards where the enemy has fallen before looking to Dawn.

"So, uh, how'd you manage your kill?"

"Loop-de-loop. Something Uncle Flame taught me to do. You?"

Terradon shrugged his shoulders in a clueless fashion, his wings flickered upon the gesture.

"Earth bullet, I think." He spoke, but then shook his head upon note of Dawn's questionable expression. "Do-don't ask, all right? I don't eve-I don't even know myself."

Loosening her expression, Dawn nodded.

"Fair enough. All right, let's go find Blade."

Terradon nodded.

"Let's." He spoke before he and Dawn took flight towards the path where Blade was supposedly located.

* * *

Throughout the whole chase, Blade was dodging arrows and screech attacks—whether by gliding up and diving down or barrel rolling back and forth--from his pursuer. Most of it was due to instructions from Sparx on the enemies' activity in case he wouldn't have time to look back just to watch where he's going.

Occasionally, he would look back and see the activity of the enemy without Sparx's reliance and retaliate with one of his elements, more preferably fire and ice. But each time he tries, he ends up missing, which proves that the dreadwing, including its rider, was quite evasive.

Sparx was keeping himself out of danger's path as much as he could while keeping up with the purple bluish dragon. Recently, it became close calls for him, but he managed nonetheless.

"Spiky, we gotta end this fast." Sparx spoke against the howling wind. "We're on a timetable."

"I know, I know!" Blade spoke in the same volume.

Blade's strategic mindset was the same as the others: _Take out the rider, than the dreadwing_.

The problem is that if he tried long range attacks from his current distance; the enemy would surely go evasive again.

Then, a thought entered the purple dragon's mind as he halted his flight to a hover and turned to face his opponent.

Sparx noticed while at the same time keeping his fearful eyes on the approaching enemy.

"Uh, Spiky, what—"

"Sparx, I want you to stay right here."

"Why? W-what are you going to do?"

Blade kept his strong, determined eyes directed towards his opponent before speaking.

"Me? I'm going to get up close and personal."

With that said, he took fast flight straight toward his opponent.

The rider took noticed from his current distance, took aim of his crossbow and fired two arrows in the purple dragon's direction.

Blade noticed the projectiles midway, but didn't want to lose his target by diverting flight to evasive maneuvers. So instead, he used his adamantine on his forearms to form a shield in front of him to deflect the projectiles in his path.

The dreadwing even applied its screech attack as the adamantine around Blade's body formed over him for protective use against the ear-splitting attack while the silver hardened minerals retracted back to its original position after use.

As Blade got to their position, the rider had little time to reload before the purple dragon—as time slows--applied the use of his new Fear element attack against the rider.

Time reverted to normal and as Blade passed the enemy, the effect of the attack grew instantaneous as both the rider and the dreadwing were paralyzed by the red electricity of fear, which as a result, convulsed their bodies and got them falling to their demise.

Blade, in his hover position, was only a few feet from the drop point as he watched with a sigh of relief escaping his maw shortly before Sparx, who was stunningly looking at the drop point as well, was able to catch up with him.

Blade acknowledged his presence, but kept his attention forward.

"Wow. Good work, Spiky." Sparx complimented.

Blade nodded in response before he heard his name being called.

Looking in the direction of the voice, Blade and Sparx saw that it was Dawn and Terradon, which placed a smile on the young purple dragon's face.

When they got to Blade and Sparx's position, they halted their flight to a hover.

"You guys all right?" Blade asked.

Terradon nodded, yet his expression grew slightly puzzled.

"Oh, yeah. Well, she's fine. I don't know about me, though."

"What do you mean?"

Terradon opened his maw to speak, but then thought on the timetable and shook his head.

"Ah, never mind. You know, it can wait. We're on a timetable right now."

Seeing his point, Blade nodded.

"Right. Let's go find your grandfather."

With a nod from the others, the three dragons and the dragonfly resumed their flight route farther down the east area.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the confines of the White Isles, the large celestial dragon known as The Chronicler was monitoring the younglings activities via vision pool as his expression grew in dread about not only what will await them on their destination, but the issue regarding the young purple dragon itself.

"Ah, young Blade…you were born with so much potential for this world and were given a unique gift, and yet you know not of the truth from the past. But in knowing the truth, will it alter your own fate?"

With a side glance, he acknowledged a silent, shadowy figure behind him, as if awaiting orders, before his attention was back to the vision pool.

"Aid them as best you can from the hostiles of the lands. But remember, it is up to Blade to determine his own path."

The shadowy figure issued a curt nod in response before making its leave from the area.

From a side glance, The Chronicler acknowledged the shadowy being's leave before his attention went back to the vision pool.

"Go forth, my prodigy." He whispered. "And may the ancestors be with you."

* * *

_**It would appear that the Chronicler has sent someone to aid Blade and his group against the hostiles in the surrounding lands. Who is he or she? Props for whoever guesses it**_.

_**Once again, I apologize for the long wait. I was aching with this one without trying to go to sleep lately. Ha! Anyway, until next time, Ciao**_!

_In the next chap, Blade and his group get an extra helping hand; Blade receives horrific visions_.


End file.
